Unlocked
by IceWrecker
Summary: When a glitchy recolor of the wrecker is unlocked in Fix-it Felix jr, Ralph and Felix go and try to find clues about the character's origin. But what they are about to discover may be more complex and horrifying than they have imagined...
1. Prologue

**A/N: Alright here. This is just a story about one of my OCs: RJ. I haven't really written in years, so I am more than excited to publish this. I hope you enjoy it. :)**

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Prologue

He looked around the space he was cramped in for the hundredth time. Dull, grey walls, which formed a cube around him, trapping him in the middle.

For how many years he'd been in there, he'd lost count. It was such a long time ago…

He got up, and with a violent swing, thrust his pixels into one of the walls. Just like before, the pixels simply bounced off the wall, leaving not even a dent on it.

Frustrated, he wanted to scream and growl and groan, but he knew he couldn't

For he was a nobody, a swirling cloud of pixels that shifted easily with the slightest movement, trapped for what seemed like eternity.

He had no voice, but he could see and hear like everyone else. And although he was just a cloud of pixels, he could think, and feel.

And right now, he felt sad, and lonely, aching to get out of this grey prison.

But he knew he couldn't…

He wasn't coded a nobody. Just like any other character, he had a home and a definite place in his game. But…something had gone wrong with him, and the game developers saw him as a potential threat to the game. So…they locked him up.

As the thick grey walls closed in around him, he felt his body lose its form, and break up into a million tiny sparkling pixels.

He never even got the chance to say goodbye. But how could he? He wasn't the one to make decisions, the game developers were.

"We can't let him out. Not now, not ever."

Those were the last words he heard before he got locked up.

 _Why_ he had been locked up, this he knew so very well it hurts, sending a ripple of energy across his pixels.

For there was a problem with his code. When released, a major disaster would threaten his game, and everything in it. He couldn't let that happen. What a selfish decision it would be!

He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, gathering his pixels around him. They were green and flickering, polygons of different sizes. It was quite hard to believe that the pixels were the remains of a former character. _He_ wouldn't have believed it too, if it didn't happen to him.

As far as he knew, he had a connection with a certain character in the game. "Who was it?" He wondered. Was it someone called Rafe or Alf or…

Ah yes.

Ralph.

Wreck-it Ralph. The 'Big Bad' of the game.

Ralph had been living for at least 30 years as a completely normal character; and as for him, trapped in a grey cube, well…he wouldn't call that 'living', but it sure beats getting unplugged and being deleted.

The sadness inside overwhelmed him. He curled his pixels into a corner, sighing deeply inside.

Before his lockage, he had been left with a vague promise, and that is when a player reached the 39th level of the game, and won, he'll be unlocked. It didn't take a genius to know that no one had yet reached this level, otherwise, he wouldn't still in here!

Pressing his pixels into the wall, he swatted the thoughts of being unlocked away from his mind. The chances of him being released were extremely slim, why even bother to think about it?

Suddenly, the wall he was pressing on lurched, and his pixels tumbled forward. He was trying to gather his pixels together when the space around him lurched again, this time tilting on the other side. He rolled forward and slammed into another wall, groaning in pain.

That's when he heard it.

He had a _voice_.

He felt his pixels shifting and sparkling, expanding, and then condensing into a being.

A body formed, arms and legs grew, hands expanding way bigger than they should be.

The cube kept lurching, and he sworn he heard a crack running down one of the walls.

 _He was being unlocked._

With an earsplitting _CRACK_ , the walls fell apart, and he was blown into the air. He closed his eyes—eyes that weren't there before; the wind rustled around him, carrying him away.

He didn't open his eyes, he didn't dare look. But he could feel his code being plugged once more into the game. This time for real.

The developers had kept their promise after all…

As he felt his bare feet brush against the rough ground, he knew he couldn't change what was happening now. But he knew this was a new beginning, a chance to start again.

Taking in a deep breath, he opened his eyes, and began his new life…


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Ready or not, here I come!"

I swing my fists toward the wall of the building, the bricks and concrete no match for my sheer strength.

"Good work, brother, you're doing great." Felix calls from the balcony above. He whips around and doges a few cascading bricks.

I laugh. Life is like that. I wreck, Felix fixes, I then get tossed off the side of the building, repeat. I used to get mad at this, but now, as they say, 'one game at a time', right?

I climb up the side of the building, smashing a few windows and walls as I passed. The player outside guides Felix down to repair the damage that I have caused.

"Ralph, seriously?!" Felix asks as hops down from the upper floors, huffing. "This is tiring me out!"

"Come on, it's the 38th level after all. The second to last. How easy would you want it to be?" I reply as I leap to the next windowsill and wreck some more.

As superior as my wrecking skills are, they are no match to the player's quickness, and before I know it, I am lying face down in the mud puddle again.

"Get up, Ralph, it's the 39th level." Felix calls.

The 39th level.

Something I haven't heard of in quite a while.

I've heard quite a long while ago that when a player managed to reach the last level, and win, something special would occur.

For the months that happened afterward, not one player came even CLOSE to the 30th level, let alone beat the game. The words slowly faded within the dust cloud of smashing bricks and rapid footfalls in the years that followed…until now.

"Oh, come on." I say, rubbing my head with one oversized finger. "What will happen then? A bonus level? A new character? PUH-LEASE. This only happens to new and shiny games out there, not old folks like us."

"You're calling yourself _old_?!" Felix laughs with a chuckle. Then he hops away.

I fight to wipe the grin away from my face. Yeah, I'm old, so what? I'm still standing.

I raise my fists and yell "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" And with that, the 39th level started.

I leap back into action, slamming my huge fists on every surface I can find. Felix whoops above me, while the Nicelanders scream and hug in terror while they witness the swirling storm of bricks and fury around them.

"Almost…there!" Felix calls. Seeing he has repaired most of my damage, I quickly go and smash a few more windows. ' _Man, this player is so good!'_ I think, ' _maybe she does stand a fighting chance against-'_

I lose my footing on a loose edge, and I gasp as I fall backwards, barely holding on to the ledge. Felix sees his chance and goes up the fix the rest of the windows. Before long, the Niceland Building is looking as new as it could be.

Felix has won.

I climb up to the roof beside him, and give him a pat, or more like a painful slap, with my strength, on his shoulder. "Nice work, Felix."

"Aww, gee thanks." Felix replies while rubbing his shoulder. I feel myself being lifted up by the Nicelanders, and being tossed off the building.

After I landed, I lifted my head, just quick enough to glance at a wall of digits and letters scrolling across the screen, blocking the light from outside the game.

 _A kill-screen_. I realize. I heard before that some games like Pac-Man had kill-screens to signify the end of the game, but…to be honest; it's not that special really.

"Well, whatdaya know." I say to myself as I stand and scrub the mud off my overalls. "Hey Felix, you wanna celebrate? I mean, it's the last level and all, and…"

I stop, as I see Felix pointing to a space behind me. I whirl around, seeing nothing. Oh wait, no, a random mass of flickering green pixels floating in midair.

I stand, transfixed, as the pixels pulsed with energy, and changed, slowly forming a being before my eyes.

The pixels shift and pulse, giving in more detail to the being every second. From what I can see, it is a human, about my size and everything.

At long last, the pixels stop flickering, and Felix, the Nicelanders, who at last ventured out of their homes, and I gaze upon the being before.

Then I let out a gasp, we all did, and then their eyes dart to me, to the being, then back to me again.

For the new being looks completely like myself.

From the square jaw, the bulky body, to the oversized hands and feet, there is no doubting that winning the game had unlocked a being like me. Short for two brown strands of hair that flopped over his left forehead, and clad in a green plaid shirt with dark blue overalls, you couldn't tell me from him.

My lookalike opens his eyes. They are the greenest I have seen, playful and sparkling with mischief.

"Hello Ralph," he says, in a voice slightly higher than mine, "my name is RJ."

He stops for a moment, shifting his footing, then continues,

"I am believed to be your brother."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Oooookay, guys, I'm gonna be honest with you here; I had actually finished Unlocked up to Chapter 6, but only posted them on my Deviantart (name's WreckitAriel, BTW). So now I'm just gonna go and post the rest of the chapters as quickly as I can.**

 **Enjoy, my friends! :)**

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Chapter 2

Ralph

For I while, I just stare at the being, AKA the so-called 'brother', before us.

A fight is going on inside me. ' _Brother?!'_ I think, ' _what brother?'_

A few moments of awkward silence pass until RJ breaks it.

"Yeah, I see you're all looking a bit confused. Well, my friends, so am I; after all, I've just been unlocked."

I shuffle forward a few steps towards RJ, and cautiously extend my hand. "Hey, there. I'm Ralph, Wreck-it Ralph."

"Hey there bro," he replies, beaming, and then shakes my hand with great gusto.

Then for a brief moment, so brief that I could have missed it, RJ's arm briefly flickers with green sparks, and then returns to normal.

" _Wait, is he_ glitching _?!"_ My mind briefly drifts to Vanellope, and the way her code behaved every time she glitched. RJ continues to shake my hand as if nothing has happened.

' _He's a glitch.'_ I think. ' _Is this the reason why he's…'_

At the same time, although I'm not sure if I had imagined it, I feel a slight tremor beneath my feet. So slight, it may not have happened at all. I quickly look beyond RJ, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

' _Na, I must have imagined it.'_ I shake off the thoughts, and release my grip on RJ's hand. I step away to let the others come closer.

While the others seem skeptical towards RJ, he greets them all with the same excitement. As I watch from behind, I can't help wondering why winning the game had unlocked a sort of palette-swap of me. I know that in _Sugar Rush_ , there are quite a few racers who are simply recolors of certain characters, but as far as I'm concerned, this is only happens to racing games, not games like us!

"Wait, so you're saying that Ralph had a brother?!" I hear of the Nicelanders ask.

"Why, yes." RJ replies. "I was born not long after he was." He smiles, his arms planted at his sides.

We are so focused on our newcomer that we fail to notice that light from the arcade has fallen in through our screen again, and that our game has been reset back to the first level.

I hear the sound of another coin being dropped, meaning that another player has come and the game is starting again. "We'd better move away, so that we'll not be seen by the player, especially RJ." Felix says.

The Nicelanders run back to their places in the building, while Felix, RJ and I scurry to the forest beyond the building. That's when it hit me "shouldn't RJ have some kind of role in the game? I mean, we unlocked him and all,"

"Maybe," RJ shrugs. "But honestly, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do during the game. Do I, uh, just go in and smash things, or, um…"

"Similar, similar," I quickly say, clutching his shoulders. "You just stay here, away from the screen. Watch and see how we do it." I stop briefly, then continue "look, we don't have much time to access your past and your role, let alone giving you a proper lesson on the game. So, just, uh…"

"Yeah, RJ, listen to Ralph. Seeing your appearance, I believe that you may have a role similar to that of him, follow what he does, okay?" Felix asks. "Oh, and avoid getting seen. The players might freak out when they see an extra wrecker without proper reason." He takes one more look at RJ and runs off.

"Got it." RJ cocks his head and runs further into the forest.

The nagging feeling is back again, and I cannot help wondering what or who RJ really is. But this is not the time for answers. I run far back behind the building and back to the other side of the game, just as the level started.

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" I yell. But just before I moved, I feel another slight tremor quake through the ground again.

" _Did you feel that?"_ I mouth, but no one seems to notice.

I dismiss the thoughts once more and entered the game.

RJ

Peeking out from the woods, I watch in awe as Ralph savagely tears the building with his bare hands. Without much thought about it, I look down at my own oversized bare hands.

' _Can_ I _do that?!'_ I wonder. Am I coded to be a real wrecker, like Ralph?

After a few more levels, it becomes clearly obvious to me of what I'm supposed to do in the game: I am supposed to help Ralph destroy the building as much as possible, and Felix will go and fix the damage; if he fixes it in time, we'll be tossed off the side of the building and into the mud below. I wince, _'this is not a good idea.'_ I thought.

I feel a glitch pulse through my code again. Somehow, I feel relieved when I heard that there was not much time to search my code for clues about me. Somehow, a part of me wants to shrink back into the shadows, back to my grey old prison. Somehow, a part of me wants to just go out and blurt everything to Ralph, but the other part tugs me back tightly.

I wanna tell, I so wanna tell, but this might ruin the possibility for me to become firmly implanted in the game, to become a real character, to live out my life properly.

I don't want them to know my secret…

I don't want them to know the real reason that I was locked up…

I look at the building, and Ralph leaping on and off windowsills to break the walls and windows.

I think he believes me with all his heart.

I'll tell him more later, I'll think of something. I need to speak carefully, for every wrong word could result in me going back into lockage.

This is my new beginning, my new life, and I won't ruin it.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the delay: needed to fix some grammar on the story.**

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Chapter 3

Ralph

"All clear, the arcade's closed!" I hear Yuni call from outside. I stand up from the mud puddle and rub the dirt off from my overalls.

I raise my head and call towards the forest. "Hey RJ, the arcade's closed. You can come out now."

RJ walks out of the trees, and as he did, his body bursts into green sparks again. The ground tremors again, this time with stronger intensity.

Felix hops down from above and lands beside us. He takes off his medal and shoves it in one of his pockets. After my previous quest for 'wreck-ognition', Felix had occasionally given me some of his medals as a sign that I should be rewarded for my wrecking in the game. I had offered to teach him some wrecking skills, but he had politely refused.

"You're gonna go and visit Tammy, right?" I tease Felix.

"Um…who's Tammy?" RJ asks in a hushed tone.

"His wife" I whisper back.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here tonight, in my game." Felix replies, "Why don't you show RJ around the game?" He asks back. For the whole time, I notice his eyes never left RJ, and they still cast a look of suspicion.

"Oh, can we Ralph? Can you show me?" RJ asks excitedly, clutching my arm.

"Um…yeah, sure." I mutter, although I had other plans for the night, mainly visiting Vanellope in Sugar Rush and swiping a few cherries from Pac-Man.

"Great," RJ says "so where shall we start?"

* * *

"And here," I say, pointing, "is East Niceland. This is where the guys from Q*bert and I live."

I had purposely put this as our last stop since this is near my home. Earlier, RJ and I had explored every inch of the forest, and RJ had even begged Felix and the Nicelanders to let us take us look at the building apartments. Of course, we both needed to climb up the side of the building to visit since we were both too tall for the lift, and only Felix was brave enough to let us visit his apartment and the penthouse, which I think RJ has taken a liking to.

"Q*bert? What kind of game is that?" RJ asks me.

"It's an old game, like us. Their game got unplugged ages ago, very unfortunate, so we invited them in our game. Apart from Q*bert, the rest now help me in the Bonus Level."

"So…why didn't I see them earlier in the game?"

I stop in my tracks: RJ did have a point; I didn't see them at all today. "Maybe today they just wanted a day off, that's all."

"Okay…" RJ mutters to himself, glitching again. The ground shakes a little beneath us. Suddenly, he gasps "what is that?!"

A round orange being with a long nose and legs runs towards us. I smile, "speak of the devil," and I pick him up. "How you're doing today, Q*bert?"

"*#&$% "

"And…what does that mean?" RJ asks, scratching his head.

"I think it simply means that he's fine," I say as I put Q*bert down again. Since we invited the guys from Q*bert, I have been trying to brush up my Q*bert-ese with the help of Felix. It hasn't been smooth sailing, I'll admit.

We walk further into East Niceland, and RJ gazes around in wonder at all the sights around him. Seeing him is like seeing a child taking his first steps into the wide open world.

"So, my brother, right?" I causally ask "why did you get locked up?"

RJ pauses for a moment, stopping in his tracks "Well, my parents found out that I was a glitch, so they didn't really want me. Then, um…they locked me up."

"What terrible parents." I mutter. "Well, it's a good thing that you were not deleted; but then again, it is pretty difficult to completely delete a character." I thought of Vanellope again. Which is when…

"Hey, actually I have some stuff I need to do tonight. I don't think you'd like that I throw you behind, so why don't you come with me?"

RJ's face slightly falls at my words, but then beams as he heard that he could join me. "Sure, why not?"

RJ

We head over to the train station, which is quite near East Niceland.

"Just in time." I hear Ralph say as the train smoothly glided into the station. The train is of the three cars joined together, each car allowing 2 characters, or in this case, 1 wrecker to sit in.

"After you," Ralph says, bowing and gesturing to the first car. I can't help giggling as I step into the car, squeezing in my body.

Ralph slips into the car behind me. The train jolts, and starts moving forward into the tunnel ahead.

"So what's the end point?" I ask.

"Game Central Station; A place where all characters meet and go to other games."

"Sounds cool." I say back.

When we get to the tunnel, I suddenly hear a loud buzzing noise and I look up. What seems like an opaque wall over the tunnel entrance is quickly descending. I gulp. _"This cannot be good."_

Turns out I was right: I slam into the wall and fall backwards, knocking Ralph over and tumbling onto the train tracks. I glance and see the now-empty train disappearing into the distance.

"Wait, what? What happened?" I ask Ralph, still sprawled on the tracks.

"Can't believe I forgot it…" Ralph says, rubbing his head. "You're a glitch. Glitches can't leave their games."

"You mean…I'm _stuck_ here?!" I practically yell.

"Well, um…yeah."

I look up at the tunnel in disbelief. _"Stuck here in this game?!"_ I think; this has to be a lie, it has to.

I walk over to the tunnel entrance and gently place my hand on what seems to a patch of nothingness. Sure enough, I hear the same buzzing noise from above and my hand is forced against the same opaque wall from before. I push with all my might against the seemingly invisible wall, but my strength is no match for the force that pushed back.

Ralph walks over to me and to the tunnel entrance, right in the place where the 'wall' is located. He walks freely back and forth, while with a sad expression on his face.

I sob. I can't leave, I can't leave this game. I look at the tunnel and imagine what lies at the end. But even if I wished with all my heart, I cannot go and discover it.

Ralph is right: I am stuck here.

"You keep going," I tell Ralph, lowering my head "I'll just…stay here till you return."

Ralph thinks for a moment, then nods his head. "Fine, if you say so." He points to what seems like a red mountain next to East Niceland. "Wait there by the pile of bricks; I'll be back soon. I promise."

"Okay." I mutter. I lumber towards the bricks and sit down, the broken bricks somehow comfortable despite their appearance.

I glitch again. When I look down, I see a small crack in the ground below, running for quite a distance and ending at my feet. I gulp. My secret might be revealed faster than I have thought.

When I look back up, the train has returned and Ralph is just climbing into the car. He looks up, expecting me to return his gaze.

I don't look at him; instead I keep my eyes fixed to the starry sky above until I hear the train move away, and I am alone by myself again.

I don't wanna leave, but time is running out.

What's a glitch to do?

I lie back in the bricks, thinking quickly about my next move.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ralph

As the train glides towards Game Central Station, I can't help feeling sorry for RJ. His sorrowful gaze at the tunnel entrance hits me again and again like a tidal wave. Poor guy, unable to fill his thirst of curiosity, just because he is a glitch and is unable to leave his game.

My thoughts drift to Vanellope, and that time she was unable to leave _Sugar Rush_ during the Cy-bug apocalypse. I shiver and brush my arms with my fingertips, trying to swipe the thoughts of her almost being killed from my mind.

At least RJ won't be dying if he stays in _Fix-it Felix jr_ …

The train slams on its brakes as I hear an overhead voice say "Welcome to Game Central Station." I get out and walk towards the gateway.

 _BEEP! BEEP!_ A red net-like coding falls upon me at the gateway. I put my head in my hands and groan. _"Not again."_

Surge Protector walks up to me to conduct a 'Random' Security Check. Oh, and I won't even bother to tell you that I will be involved in 5 more 'Random' Security Checks later on…

*Sigh*

As I walk across the station towards Sugar Rush, other characters wave and greet at me. "Hey, Ralph, how you're doing?" I hear one ask. "Yo Ralph; have anything to do tonight? If no, see you tonight at _Tappers_!" I hear another call.

It all seems surreal that just 2 years ago, everyone was avoiding me like I had the plague. It happened to most Bad Guys back then; other characters feared that we would, like, go berserk at any given time, and think that its 'better safe than sorry' to go and avoid us altogether. Now, of course, most have realized that Bad Guys, like other characters, are merely actors, and actually not that bad in real life. We've been frequently invited to various parties and game-jumps after that.

Smiling, I politely decline the invite to _Tappers_ , since I do have other things to do tonight.

I reach the gateway to _Sugar Rush_ and board the brightly-colored, heavily candy-themed train to the game. Since Vanellope regained power of _Sugar Rush_ , she had made a few improvements and changes to the game; adding a train back to the power cord was one of them, since it is said Turbo had removed it during his reign, to prevent anyone from _Sugar Rush_ from escaping. Vanellope had made sure that the new train will let any visitor know they are entering a candy-themed game.

But the train cannot be made out of candy itself. _Obvious reason…_

Before long, I am trekking through the candy-cane forest towards the magnificent castle in the distance, where Vanellope lived. As I look around the forest, I feel a slight pang of nostalgia, as my mind replayed the scenes from my quest for 'wreck-ognition'. I glance at the cliff that my spaceship had crashed into before, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Too bad all traces of it had been wiped away when the game had been reset.

After a while, I finally reach the gates of the castle. Sour Bill gestures for me to enter, and says that Vanellope will be returning soon from the Random Roster Race. I sit down in the hall for a moment, occupying 4 small chairs that are present there. Somehow, by luck, I think Vanellope will be the next trusted person to tell what happened in my game today. After all, that kid's a glitch, RJ can relate to her, right?

A bright blue flash darts in the end of the hallway. I don't even have time to look up when the flash shows up in front of me and burrows into my chest. I sigh and look down at the tiny girl wrapping her arms on my chest.

Her hair is again messy from the race, her clothes nothing like regal. Yup, that's my Vanellope.

"Hey Ralph! I can't believe you came. You should have told me earlier at what time you were coming, so I could postpone the time of the race."

"Well, Vanny, I _was_ planning to see you in the race, but I can't because of…reasons." My voice drops down to a whisper. "How 'bout we go out and I'll tell you more."

"'kay." Vanellope glitches out of my grasp and vanishes. _"Presumably to go get her kart ."_ I think.

I stand and walk out of the castle, and that's when I am greeted by the sound of a roaring motor. Vanellope appears around the corner in her kart. "Hop in!" She calls, pointing to the back.

I jump in the back, the kart rolling back a wee bit because of my weight. Vanellope revs the engine, and the kart shoots towards the candy-cane forest.

"So, what do you wanna tell me, Stinkbrain?" Vanellope asks me.

"Well, a player in our game got to the last level, and she, well…" I whisper "unlocked a new character."

"WHAT?!"

Very quickly I go over the details, about how RJ looked like me, how he couldn't leave, and also of the frequent tremors in our game lately. In fact, I was so focused on talking, that I haven't noticed that we are fast approaching the game's exit.

"So, RJ is like a recolor of you, right? I don't know much about him, but he sounds pretty fun. Oh! And this reminds me…" She quickly drives back into the forest, me clutching the sides of my sear for dear life.

"Hey wait, where you're going?" I ask when she finally stops.

Vanellope does not answer. Instead, she glitches towards the side of a trail, chocolate boulders littered everywhere. She looks up and down at them, then finally dives in one of them and tries to lift it up.

"It'll be rude if we didn't send him a welcoming gift. Hey Stinkbrain, help me out a bit?"

"You're not even sure if he likes them…" I mutter, but I go and help her out anyway.

After the chocolate boulder was loaded, we get back into the kart and start towards Game Central Station. "Not to be rude," I say "I actually planned to swipe a few cherries from _Pac-Man_ , to see if he likes them."

"Then _Pac-Man_ here we come!" Vanellope calls back. "We've got plenty of space here in the kart."

"Um…you're forgetting there is already a train in the power cord. You put it yourself." I point out.

"And you, Stinkbrain, are forgetting that as the President of _Sugar Rush_ , I can do whatever I want in the game, power cord included. Hang on!"

Before I have time to resister what is happening, we are inside the power cord, and Vanellope uses her glitching powers to speed us along.

When it seems like we're going to crash into the passing train, Vanellope yells and in a few bursts of blue light, glitches us up, down, and away into Game Central Station, startling a few other characters that are near the gateway.

"Um, miss," Surge Protector appears next to the gateway after I activate the alarm, "this is Game Central Station, so I'm afraid you cannot-"

"Later sir!" Ignoring protests by Surge Protector, Vanellope drives straight to Pac-Man, and again glitches us along the power cord.

"You're such a law-breaker, Vanellope." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, you break _everything_ more than me." Vanellope shoots back.

"Whatever." I say with a snort, and I get off the kart. Vanellope glitches onto my shoulder, and we both enter the maze of _Pac-Man_.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: This chapter in a nutshell: #donotgetfelixoutofcharacter.**

 **LOL**

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Chapter 5

Felix

"Hey Felix, what are you looking at?" Gene taps me on the shoulder.

I jerk and look away from the window. Behind me, a party is in full swing, the Nicelanders dancing and eating cake like any other party.

But tonight, my thoughts are not on the party and all its guests and entertainment. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot tear my thoughts from Ralph and RJ, particularly RJ. Something about the guy bugs me, like there is something that he hasn't revealed to the rest of us.

The ground shakes again, but no one seems to notice.

"Hey, seriously." Gene glances me straight in the eye. "You've been looking out at the window for like 20 minutes; Mary's got the cake ready, with your favorite: vanilla! But you're just looking out and not joining in." He steps closer to me "You're not like, well, you, tonight."

"Really?" I gulp. I have not realized that I have drawn such a crowd just by not paying attention. "Um…yeah." I stammer.

"Please don't tell me that you want to invite those two behemoths to our party, eh?" Gene says, rather rudely. "It's a miracle that they didn't trash up this place earlier on their visit, right?"

"Don't say them like that…" I mutter.

I shake my head and walk into the party. I try to clear the thoughts of RJ from my head, but the more I try, the more embedded they become in my mind. It seems like a million invisible questions were hovering around me, begging to be answered.

Like: How did Ralph have a sibling he didn't know?

Like: Why had there been no earthquakes until today?

Like: Why am I still so deeply suspicious of RJ?!

The questions close in around me, blocking me from the rest of the party; but I can't answer them…

…or can I?

"Hey, I just thought of something, and I wanna go and check on it. I'll be back soon." I call to the Nicelanders. As I turn for the door, I swing back on my heels and say, "Oh, and Mary; get me a slice of cake: I'm starved."

Soon, I click the door softly behind me with a plate in my hand. I take another bite of my cake and press the button for the elevator. A plan is quickly forming in my head as I waited for the lift, but to be honest, I actually feel guilty about putting it into action. I don't want to tamper around with anyone's code without them knowing; but then again, I don't think I have any other choice.

The elevator arrives. I get into it and travel to my own floor, and enter my apartment. I set the now-empty plate on the table, and I face the room. The room is bright, the lights bouncing off the array of medals that lined up the side of the wall, family pictures of Tamora, Ralph, Vanellope and me encased in frames on top of the chest. Everything is where it should be.

Very quietly, I kneel down and pull out the bottom drawer of the chest. The entire chest is made out of wood, and has been standing in this room since the game began. It is an ordinary chest, one that you wouldn't give a second thought when you saw one. But my father knew better, and in my backstory, he told me that the chest holds a tiny secret, a key unknown to most, but vital for our survival.

I look carefully around the wooden space in which the drawer has once been. There, in the far corner, I see a slight piece of wood jutted out. I take a knife and pry out the piece of wood and reach inside the space emptied out.

Inside, I find a skeleton key, slightly rusted with age; and after slipping it into my pocket, I take a look at the piece of wood. There is a code handwritten on it: F3lr4l1102. I take a second glance at it, and although I had no idea what it means, I walk to the table, jot the code down on a piece of paper, and replace the piece of wood in its original place.

I take out a flashlight from the first drawer of the chest, and stash it into my belt. I then quickly slide all the drawers back into their original positions, and look at the result.

 _"_ _There, I'm done!"_ I think. Now I just need to get out without being seen…

* * *

I walk out of the building and turn sharply to the right, until I was at the back of the building, where vines grew all over. I carefully part some of the vines, and there it is: a door built into the wall, practically invisible to everybody.

I turn the key in the lock, and hear a soft _click_. Instinctively, I turn my head to the left and right, fearing that someone may be following me or spying on what I'm about to do next.. I see RJ sitting in the brick pile in the distance with his head down, scribbling something on the ground with his giant finger. I quickly breathe in a sigh of relief. _Good, he hasn't seen me._ I open the door silently and walk in the doorway.

I turn on the flashlight, and the light beam shines upon a stairway that leads down, and down, and down…

I grip my flashlight tighter as I descend down, feeling my code pulse quicker than it should. The walls are moist and damp, though it seems no one has come down here for years. I shine my light onto the wall surfaces and the floor, insects scurrying away from the light beam as it hit them.

The ground beneath my feet quakes, and I shriek, my flashlight clattering onto the floor, startling thousands of dark insects, running all over the floor and on my feet. I shriek again, suddenly glad that the walls were somehow capable of blocking out any loud noise.

 _"_ _Get it together, Felix!"_ I scold myself as I bend down and pick up the flashlight. I give it a quick dust-off and shine it downward again.

Gene is right for one thing: I really don't feel like myself tonight.

Soon, I stop in front of a large metal door, with a digital pad fastened in front of it. I quickly pull out the piece of paper and with the help of my flashlight, punch in the code. The door swings open silently, and I find myself looking into what seems like infinite darkness, with a cluster of lights in the distance.

 _The Code Room._

Holding on to my hammer tightly, I run forward and push myself into the darkness.

It's quite an alarming feeling, suspended in darkness, hanging on what seems like thin air. But at the same, I feel a sense of calmness wash over me as I approached the web of code boxes. It is the weirdest feeling ever, one that I can't seem to describe.

After a while of pushing and swimming, I finally reach the shimmering, neon-colored boxes, connected to each other by thin wires, pulsing with energy.

Everyone's in the arcade has heard the story of how Turbo invaded _Sugar Rush_ by tampering with its code, claiming the throne for himself, causing Vanellope to become a glitch, and ridding _Sugar Rush_ of its past memories. It is the vilest thing the arcade has ever seen, and so one would fear that a character going into the code room may have destructive plans in mind.

But I'm not here for chaos and disorder; I'm here for answers.

I swim to the cluster of boxes with names and faces marked on it. I look up and down, recognizing names and faces: my smiling face beside my name, Ralph's scowling face besides his name, the familiar faces of the Nicelanders besides their names, each face etched in regard to his or her personality.

And in the far corner, I finally see it: a glowing box with the name RJ written on it.

I glide myself to it, and tap a hand lightly on RJ's code box, causing it to flicker and pop up into a hundred tiny icons.

I gently move a hand over the sparkling icons, trying to find anything relevant to RJ's past. But so far, I've found nothing.

Just as I'm about to remove my hand from the sea of icons, my hand brushes against a random icon, and the whole box, yes, the whole box, just glitches up, shimmering and flickering. I jerk my hand back, just in time to see it flare up into a million tiny blue lights, glitching as I watched.

As soon as my hand restores to normal, I take a closer look at the particular icon I had just brushed. Strangely, it seems to be connected to something, and not just to RJ's code. I trace the thin wire connecting the icon with my eyes, trying to see where it ended.

When I finally found it, I draw in a large, deep breath.

 _The wire was connected to the main code itself._

Connected to the heart of the game.

The icon flickers again, and I see pulses of energy transporting through the wire and into the main code, causing it to also flicker.

Another flicker catches my eye, and I look, just in time to see a second icon in RJ's code to flicker, and the main code to also flicker up as well.

A third icon flickers, and again, the main code flares up into sparks briefly.

 _RJ's code: it's glitching, and that…oh no._

As dozens of icons in RJ's code glitch up instantaneously, I feel light-headed as I found myself assuming a terrible theory about RJ. I draw in a few quick breaths, unable to believe what is happening in front of my own eyes, and suddenly wishing that I never entered the Code Room at all.

 _This can't be true…right?_

The icons flicker again, this time with stronger intensity and the main code glitches up again. I quickly tap RJ's code box shut and swim to the doorway as fast as I can.

 _I need to tell Ralph about this…_


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I had just finished Chapter 7, but I need a bit of time before I post it up here. In the meantime, here's Chapter 6.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 6

RJ

Another glitch, another tremor under my feet. I wrap my arms around my body, shaking back and forth. I cannot stop the glitches, but I can feel that they are getting stronger, racking my code with greater intensity.

The ground had shaken a few more times when I sat, and when I look up, maybe it's just my imagination, or the night sky seemed a bit dimmer than it was before.

The game is changing as I speak, and though I cannot stop it from shifting, I know what is behind all the changes.

But I can't tell them…

I find myself staring intensely at the tunnel entrance, eagerly waiting for Ralph's return. Not because I wanna blurt everything to him, but because I somehow find comfort in talking with someone I know.

I stare down at my feet; the cracks have widened by at least a few centimeters. I shift my position, removing my feet from the ground and curl them onto my chest. _Maybe, just maybe, Ralph won't notice them if he doesn't pay close attention…_

Just then, I hear a sound from the far side of the tunnel. I sit up. _It must be the train,_ I thought. But wait, I don't hear any sound of a bell ringing when the train comes and goes.

So…what is it?

I stand and walk to the mouth of the tunnel, peering into the distance. The sound is still faint, but I can definitely hear that it's gradually getting stronger. But I still don't see anything…

Wait, no, cross that out: I can see something, but it is very small, unlike the train in which Ralph exited by.

I press my hands on the invisible wall at the opening of the tunnel, the one that prevented me from leaving. The 'something' is getting clearer by the moment, and now I can make out that it is like a small kart or something, approaching fast.

And it seems to be heading straight towards…

 _"_ _RJ! LOOK OUT!"_

I try to jump out of the way as the kart comes crashing in through the entrance, but I wasn't fast enough; the kart slams me straight in the chest. I fly backwards violently, and fall on the ground, head first, with a terrific _THUMP_.

And then I-

"-like, what have you done, kid; you'd _killed_ him!"

"No, I haven't. See, he's stirring."

I turn my head side to side, and then open my eyes. Two faces, one anxious, one smiling, look down at me. I sit up.

The anxious face—Ralph's, peers more closely at me, and then he says "You were killed, RJ; you know that right?"

Wait, what?!

Killed?! Me?!

"I'm…I'm dead?" I ask, groggily.

"Well, yeah." Ralph replies, "I mean, a moment ago."

"Then, why am I still here?" I ask as I stand up.

"Well," Ralph says slowly to me with a sigh "simply put, you regenerated. You're still in your game, so when you die, you get to, well, live again." He rubs his head "yeah, I know, it's quite hard to explain; but that's just the way it works. Get used to it, bro."

"Okay…" I feel the words rolling slowly out of my tongue, suddenly glad that I'm not allowed to leave my game.

Ralph gives a small snort, "at least you're still here." Gesturing towards the kart, he asks, "you hungry?"

* * *

"Gosh, this is delicious!" I say, biting into the gigantic cherry, the juice running down my chin and staining my shirt.

"I told you he likes cherries." Ralph says to the pony-tailed kid next to him. "I told you not to bring the chocolate boulder; so heavy."

"Oh no," I say quickly "I love the chocolate as well; absolutely wonderful." I put down the cherry and take another bite of the chocolate boulder. I wasn't lying: the chocolate is one of the best things I've ever eaten.

Well, okay: I haven't eaten much before I got unlocked, but who cares?

"Glad you liked them!" The little kid calls to me on the side, her ponytail swinging from side to side. " _Sugar Rush_ 's delicacies. I'm Vanellope Von Schweetz, by the way." She says, sticking out her hand.

"Vanell…what?" I ask.

"Vanellope Von Schweetz." She repeats, "President of _Sugar Rush_."

"Oh, that's it." I say slowly. Gee, that name's a mouthful.

"So, you're RJ, right?" Vanellope asks.

"Yup."

"What does it stand for?"

I stop chewing, and literally freeze in my tracks. _Don't tell, don't tell._ I hear myself saying in my mind as my code pulses quicker in my chest. Finally, I smile and say "it's just a name, that's all."

Luckily they did not ask me any more questions about my name thereafter.

We talk for a while, Vanellope telling us how much funs she had during the last few days; by this time I had figured out that she was from a racing game. "…and then Taffyta was right beside me, and I then I found out that I could glitch right on top of her! Know what I mean? Stinkbrain?"

"Yeah, I know, I know." Ralph mutters. He then turns to me, "hope you're not bored while I'm away; right? RJ?"

"Nope, not bored at all." I say quickly, though some part of me still wishes to go out of this game and explore the outside world.

"So you're a glitch, like me?" Vanellope asks.

"Well, yeah; can't leave though." I say, turning away, suddenly jealous that Vanellope is able to leave her game while still being a glitch.

"Don't be sad, RJ," Vanellope says, jumping onto my lap and looking at me straight at the eye. "I can't leave too, back a few years ago. But then my code got fixed, the glitch got incorporated into my system, became my talent or something. Now I can leave whenever I want." She leans closer to me, "I'm sure Felix can fix your code like mine, and then you'll be able to leave whenever you want."

I close my eyes, trying to visualize what it would like if what Vanellope had said was true: me riding the train to who-knows-where, my body glitching like I just don't care. I could be free. I could be mended.

I could be _whole_.

Yes! If my code got fixed, then I could really be a part of this world, a part of this game, and never, ever return to my dark past.

Vanellope grips me tightly, and my eyes snap open. "Hey kid, what's up?"

"You…you glitched, and then…" She just points to the forest just beyond the brick pile. I look and I immediately see it:

Two trees had fallen in the edge of the clearing, and just beneath them, a long crack ran to through the clearing to the brick pile.

 _Right where we are gathered._

I swallow hard, while Ralph stands up and whistles, surveying the damage. "Whoa; earthquakes just got more impressive, right?"

"Shouldn't you, I mean, we, be worried about it?" I find myself asking before I realize what I was doing. I bite the inside of my cheek, my code pulsing like mad.

"Yeah. But our game's pretty old anyhoo." Ralph says slowly "We haven't had a bang-up checkup for years! Maybe I'll talk to Felix about this."

Ralph turns his head "Oh! And speaking of which…"

We all look in that direction, and we see Felix running towards us. His face is red from running, and is calling Ralph's name as he ran.

"Hey, slow down, Felix; we all know that something's up with the game, we'll just get someone to fix it up. What's the big hurry?" Ralph asks.

"Ralph, it's not just about the game," Felix says, panting "it's also about… _him_." He finishes, pointing at me.

I gulp. _Please don't reveal it._ I beg in my mind.

" _RJ?!_ " Ralph asks, a hint of surprise in his tone, "What's wrong with him?"

"Can we talk about this, Ralph, please; _alone_?" Felix is eyeing me the whole time, and I feel a sense of uneasiness in the atmosphere.

"Why, sure." Ralph turns to us, "You two go hang out in the forest while we talk. This won't take long, I hope."

"Will do." I mutter, finally glad that I am able to get some distance from both Ralph and Felix after all of this. Without looking back at Ralph, I take Vanellope's hand and turn for the forest.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

RJ

Vanellope leaps onto my shoulder and we trek into the forest, leaving Ralph and Felix by the clearing. As I walk, I let out a small sigh, glad to be out of sight from both of them for a short while.

The forest is quiet, apart from the soft thudding of my footsteps. I keep my eyes peeled to the ground, not only to avoid the cracks and fallen trees lying on the ground, but also to avoid eye contact with Vanellope. I figure if I look innocent enough, then no one will suspect me for anything, and that they will accept me for everything. Also, Vanellope always seems to successfully pierce my amour with her questions, coaxing me to tell them more about my secret past.

"Hey RJ!" The girl on my shoulder chirps out.

I suck in my breath. _Great._ "What, Vanellope?" I ask back, praying that it won't involve me blurting more about myself to her.

"What do you think Stinkbrain and Mr. Hammerin' are now talking about?"

"Don't really know." I half-lie. Judging from the way Felix looked at me back at the clearing, and his alarmed expression when he was talking, I kinda have a feeling of what Felix is about to tell Ralph, and…I'm pretty sure that I am involved. But really, it's just a guess.

"Wait, so you don't know?" Vanellope has now jumped down from my shoulder and is standing in front of me, her arms on her hips. Man! This kid's _really_ sassy.

"No, I really don't know what they're talking about!" I reply, stretching out both my arms for emphasis. "Why do you care so much anyhoo?"

"Well, yeah, you're right; it is none of my business." Vanellope says, her eyes twinkling "but that doesn't mean we can go and see what they're saying..."

It then smacks me. Hard: she wants to go and eavesdrop on what Ralph and Felix are discussing about.

"What?! That's rude, kid." I practically yell at her at implanting such a thought in my head. But to be honest, I am quite curious to hear what they are saying, so as to hear if they are really talking about me.

'Cause if they are, I might be in deep trouble.

"Well, it's not rude if they don't bust us out…" Vanellope taunts me. The tempting feeling is back again, and I find myself nearly impossible to resist the incredible urge to go and listen on Ralph and Felix.

"…okay." I let the word roll out of my mouth. "So…where could we go and spy on them?"

"Well, there are a lot of trees near the clearing, and quite a few bushes, so…" Vanellope looks at me again, "wanna go?"

I look back at her and smile. "Let's do it."

Ralph

"…wait. What do you mean, RJ is behind all of this?" I half-ask, half-yell at Felix after listening to his 'explanation' on RJ and the earthquakes.

"Calm down, bro!" Felix calls back at me "it's just an assumption; it could be wrong."

"Assumption, muhssupmtion, I don't freaking care; you're just trying to get rid of RJ, that's all." I mutter and look away, crossing my arms over my chest. I know it. From the moment RJ was unlocked, Felix has been looking at him in, what can I say, in a _different_ way; and by _different_ , I _do not_ mean good.

"No I'm not!" Felix shoots back at me "I want RJ to stay in the game as much as you do. I'm just…wary, afraid that we do not know much about him before making such a choice. Remember what happened last time you went AWOL? We almost got unplugged!"

"Okay, okay! So I screwed up back then, but what evidence do you hold to support your so-called theory here?"

"Like…have you noticed earthquakes happening in our game before?" He questions me.

I think back hard. "No," I admit "but our game's almost 33 years old, maybe the coding just…"

"Oh, and do you remember anything about RJ from your backstory? Because I don't." Felix finishes.

I freeze in my tracks; now _that_ is something I have not expected to come from Felix. But, not wanting to lose the challenge to Felix, I turn away and start to dig through my memories.

I have not accessed my memories in _decades_ , partly because it contains some scenes when I felt, out of all emotions, _proud_ , to be a wrecker: it makes me wince just to think about it now. Swatting that particular memory away, I reach down and try to tug up more memories, memories that I don't know that I have before…

After some time, I finally manage to recall my backstory from many, many years ago. I remember how my father used to run one of his giant fingers through my hair, how he laughed in a loud voice, how he taught me to destroy and become a true wrecker… How my mother used to hug me in her arms, how she sung lullabies to me every time before I slept, how I cried when she left us by her bed…

And… _no_. RJ was not there, not there at all.

"No," I find myself saying before I can stop myself, "I don't recall him at all. Strange." Despite what RJ said earlier, I can't deny what Felix is assuming may be truer than I think.

Felix nods, "you see what I mean? I'm just worried what we're getting ourselves into if we don't ask more questions. Look, Ralph; I _really_ don't want to get unplugged this time."

"But…why would he lie to me, to us?" I ask. "Why, Felix?"

"You know, brother, 'people lie when they don't want to reveal the truth.' At least, that's what my dad always said back then." Felix replies.

"You do have a point. Yeah, let's go and-"I stop suddenly "Felix, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" He asks, right as we hear another sound, the sound of a twig being snapped.

We both stop talking at that moment, trying to figure out what made the twig snap when I see it: a bright flash of green, and before I know it, the ground beneath me jerks up and I lose my footing, falling to the ground.

"Ow…" I moan as I get back up. I now see them: RJ and Vanellope, blending perfectly in the trees and bushes in their green clothes, obviously listening in to every bit of our conversation. I sigh, knowing that I have made a mistake by entrusting RJ to look after Vanellope.

"Hey, why are you too here?" Felix asks quickly, "shouldn't you be in the forest?"

"We're just, um…worried." Vanellope stammers "we want to see if you're okay and that, and…"

"That's enough." RJ snaps gruffly, his face thunderous. I feel my jaw drop open, for I have never heard such gruffness coming out from my brother before, contrasting his bubbly personality.

"RJ, I…"

"Please don't ask, Vanellope." RJ literally sweeps her towards me with his hand, and then he looks at both of us, his green eyes blazing dangerously like fire.

"What…did you just say earlier?" He asks us "are you saying that I'm a _fake_? That I'm not supposed to be here at all?!"

"No! We're not saying that, at all!" I say, moving into the space between RJ and Felix.

"Then…why did you just mention me?" RJ threatens me.

I gulp. _Lie, Ralph, lie now!_ "We're just…you know…worried about you. Yeah, just worried."

RJ raises one eyebrow "Really, Ralph; really?!" He has now pressed one hand to my chest, and I know for certain if I say something wrong, he'll push me over, kill me even.

I chuckle nervously, hoping that RJ couldn't hear them. "For real, RJ, why would I lie to you?" Which, ironically, is exactly what I am doing to him…

RJ looks at me for a few more moments, then he releases his hand and snaps "I have nothing for you to worry about. Keep your noses out of my business, and I mean it." He then turns and stomps back into the forest, pushing a tree to the ground in the process.

For a while, the three of us just stand here, speechless at what just happened. After a while, Vanellope finally gingerly breaks the silence "um…I have to go back; we'll be racing soon."

"That's all right, kid, you can go." Felix pats her on the shoulder softly and she runs off, leaving just the two of us in the clearing.

"You are right, Felix," I let out, lowering my head, "RJ _is_ hiding something. And he seems angry about us trying to find out what that is."

"I knew it." Felix says, and then he looks up at me, "so what do you want to do?"

A part of me wants to follow RJ into the woods, trying to talk to him; but at the same time, I don't think that would be a wise decision; I still don't fully know RJ yet.

"Let's just go and get prepped up for the day." I finally get out "maybe he'll snap out of it soon and come back out to join us."

"Good decision, brother." Felix says, and with that, we both leave the clearing and my brother behind.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! My writer's block is now completely gone, and I'm more than happy to write again.**

 **Oh, and last** **week I just got my HKDSE results and I got good grades! (Give glory to the LORD) I have went and applied for a few degree courses, and hopefully I'll be able to study again in September. And then, I just received some cool news on WIR2 at the D23 Expo; made me more excited for the second installment (GO RALPH!) And then to top it off, dad had just given me a great present: the Wreck-it Ralph pin from the Disney Store 30th Anniversary limited release pin set, and I love it to bits! I really couldn't think of a more better way to fully end the HKDSE experience. And yes, there's no way that I'm going through that again. :D**

 **That aside, I'll go straight into the story, and I hope you'll like it, for I had a ton of fun writing this one.**

* * *

Chapter 8

RJ

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I mutter as I stomp into the forest, snapping twigs underneath my feet like I just don't care. I know I shouldn't have followed Vanellope, I knew I shouldn't have gone over and listened to Ralph and Felix's conversation. They now know it: they now know that something is wrong with me, something other than the obvious glitches. They may now know that I cannot stay here in the game.

But where else can I go? I'm a glitch, I'm stuck here.

I hear the sound of rushing water as I approach a river, with a bridge built over it. I stand by the side of the river, bend down on my knees, and peer down into the water. A man's face, greatly similar to Ralph's, skip for two floppy strands of hair over his eyebrow and extremely green eyes, glances back at me.

I reach out my hand and touch the reflection, my finger swirling along the watery features. I let out a small sigh, the anger now completely burnt away. It is so plainly obvious that I am not much more than a recolor of Ralph himself, that I am not someone important in the game, but rather a person that is forced to stay because of his disabilities. I can hear that Ralph is trying his hardest to defend me in their conversation, but I can tell at the same time that he is not far from finding the truth about me.

And when he does, I am pretty sure that he'll be the first to lock me up again.

I withdraw my finger and wrap my arms around my body, racking back and forth as I feel tears roll down my face. I so want to reveal, so want to tell everybody the truth, but now I have come this far, I cannot go back, and am forced to keep moving forward, keep on hiding my secrets…

That's when I notice it…

My finger isn't wet.

I scramble to my feet and run over to the river edge. As I approach, I flail my arms, trying to prevent myself from tumbling into the water, but I'm not fast enough. I fall into the river, the water rising over me as I close my eyes, not daring to know what happened. I hit the bottom of the river and sit up, and very carefully, open my eyes.

The water swirls around me like a brilliant blue wall, but for some reason, apart from the river bottom that I am sitting on, I cannot feel anything else. Come to think of it, I don't seem to hear the sounds of the water rushing around me as I did a while ago, nor did I hear any splash as I fell into the water.

I gingerly reach out a hand, as if to try and touch the water, but I feel nothing but thin air. I reach out more, shifting my position as I do so, but still I feel nothing. It is like the water has just…disappeared.

And disappeared it had: the water is nothing but a blue projection, absolutely intangible. I try and swipe at it, but it is like swiping through nothingness.

I start to get worried: the next part of destruction in the game has already begun, and so far no one has any idea to stop it. How long can they move on until they realize that a threat is being brewed in the game, and find that the cause is right in front of their own eyes?

It's no use just sitting here in this blue patch of nothingness; I stand up, completely dry, from the 'water', and walk out to the shore. In the distance, I can hear Ralph's voice and the sounds of fierce destruction. The game is starting, all right, but for how long? For how long will they realize?

I walk away from the now-silent river, feeling the familiar glitch creep up my shoulders, and shutter as the all-too recognizable shaking quakes through the land.

Not knowing what to do at the moment, I just stand here, among the cracks in the ground, gazing up at the building in the distance, hoping that my biggest fears would not be happening soon.

Ralph

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

I begin my routine climbing of the building, smashing bricks and trying to swat the thoughts of RJ and the game off my mind. _Focus_. I tell myself. _Just stay focus._ But to be honest, it's really hard to concentrate on your job when so much has happened in the last 24 hours or less.

I glance up at the building, and besides from the usual faces of the Nicelanders peering out from their windows and Felix hammering his work down above, I see a few cracks running down the sides of the building; cracks easy to see by us, but not obvious enough to the players outside. I gulp; how long have they been there? A few hours ago? A couple of minutes ago? Just now? I am starting to worry what Felix and I have gotten ourselves into.

I reach for a ledge and haul myself up. From up here at this height, I can see the whole of Niceland sweeping below me as a picture-perfect landscape. I scan the world around me unintentionally, and see a tiny speck of green in the middle of a field.

"Oh RJ…" I mutter softly to myself, soft enough that no one other than me can hear. While it is a relief to see him come out of the woods, I am still worried what lies ahead for the both of us. We've had about a huge disagreement just minutes before; what if he is still mad at me? Will we make up?

I look back up and then I see it: the window edge in which Felix is standing on suddenly begins to shake and flicker. Without thinking, I quickly shout "FELIX, LOOK OUT!"

Felix, surprised, looks down at me, then at his feet…just as the edge flickers and collapses into nothing. Falling, he gasps, then falls flat on the top of another window ledge 3 floors down.

For a while he just lies there, and frantic, I jump down from my current position and kneel next to Felix. "Felix? You dead?!" I ask, shaking him.

Felix jerks alive in my hands, and backs away from me quickly. "What are you doing here, brother? You insane?!"

"Hey, I just wanna check if you're okay, you _died_ there, Felix! Why do you have to be so harsh towards me?" I shoot back at him.

"I'm glad that you're here for me here, but at least _don't do it in the middle of a gameplay_!"

I gasp; I had just made a fatal mistake, fatal enough to get our game unplugged for good.

I quickly scramble to my feet and climb up a few more floors, hoping to gain some distance from Felix. But it's too late: the players have already seen my mistake, and I'm betting that they're now calling Litwak to check our game as this very moment.

I just hope that I will make no more mistakes later; but I cannot predict what more the game has in store for us.

…and it is the latter part that got us into big trouble.

The ledge I am leaning on crashes inward, not by my own actions, and I find myself collapsed inside one of the Nicelanders' apartments. Mary's. I hear her screaming as she runs out of the room, trying to get away from me. "Sorry…" I mutter, apologizing to no one in particular. Then I run into the room, though the hallway, and climb up one of the two steel ladders located at the ends of the hallway.

All around me, bricks are flying, windows are being shattered, and screaming, screaming is everywhere. I hear another Nicelander squeal in fright as she is launched quite literally from her apartment, only to be saved by her nearby neighbor.

The steps are becoming harder and harder to climb, have they always been this flimsy? It seems like the steps are groaning and moaning under my own weight, getting weaker and weaker by the moment. I grab for the upper railing, and it snaps under my fingertips, and I flail for a moment, trying to regain my balance.

I look around, and it seems like Felix and all the others are doing the same as I, trying to gain their balance amid the chaos. Like, no one is really caring that we're in the middle of a full-blown gameplay; everyone is just trying to save their skin. I scan and see Felix pulling a Nicelander from his collapsed apartment, and a few have run out and stand in the clearing below me.

Everyone seems to be going downward, but why?

Then it dawns on me, hard: the entire building, not just the apartments, is collapsing down.

 _And I am still on it._

I try to scramble down from the ladder, but my feet just can't find the rungs. I clutch at the rungs above me, as I feel the whole building tilt towards me. I close my eyes as I lean on the ladder, hoping that what I fear would not happen next.

Then it happens.

The rungs snap. Now both hands and feet completely free, I sail through the air and plummet toward the ground, the building falling close behind me. I open my eyes; just enough to see the building looming towards me like a gigantic, angry wave of bricks and concrete.

" _RALPH!"_ I hear someone call through the chaotic fray, but I cannot make out who it is.

I close my eyes again, hoping that it won't be a huge impact when I hit the ground and the building falls completely right on top of me.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay guys, I'll leave you with a cliffhanger here. And yes, more will be revealed in the next chapter. Till then, that's all from me here!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Alright guys. *Literally shoves chapter onto the computer* You can't believe just how long it took just to type all this out.**

 **Anyhoo, will be entering university next month, so might as well get this done first.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **Caution: very mild swearing...or if you call that swearing, that is.**

* * *

Chapter 9

RJ

" _RALPH!"_ I yell as I see him plummeting towards the ground, the building falling close behind him. It is at that moment when I realize that I am gasping hard for air and my legs are sore, that I've been running for a long time and I didn't realize it.

To this day I cannot recall when I'd started running.

I leap over a large crack in the ground, keeping my eyes fixed on the collapsing building, and the person falling from it. I run faster, and faster still, hoping that I can be able to outrun the building before it completely falls.

Finally, I reach the place where Felix and the others are gathered. Felix's eyes widen when he sees me "RJ?! But how…"

"No time for answers!" I call back as I look upwards, my figure completely consumed in the shadow of the approaching building. I scan the entire building rapidly, hoping to find him before it is too late. There! I see him. Ralph, falling slowly through the air, the bricks and concrete all raining down around him.

I quickly grab a rung from the ladder on the side of the building and hoist myself up, even though the building is bending in my direction. Some of the rungs were already broken, so it has taken a while longer than I expected to work up just a floor of the building.

 _SNAP._ The rung breaks apart in my hands, and I grab onto the nearby window ledge to hold myself. I look up again; Ralph is still falling, this time closer to where I am at.

Even if he reaches the part where I am stationed, I cannot reach and grab onto him since he is too far away. To be honest, at my current position, there is no way to get Ralph away before the building falls upon both of us.

Unless…

"What are you doing?!" Felix calls from below, and I hear the worry in his voice.

"Just something crazy." I say back, not lying this time.

I wait a few more seconds, just a few more, enough for Ralph to fall gently to the point where I am standing. His eyes are closed, and he doesn't make any effort to hold on the sides of the building; maybe he got knocked out cold up there when the building started to crash? Either way, it is clearly obvious that he'll not be able to save himself in time.

Slowly, I do a mental countdown in my head, counting for the seconds that it took for Ralph to fall by me. And it won't be long now…

… _Three…two…one. Now!_

I leap forward with all my might, my arms outstretched, and slam into Ralph, as if I am tackling him from the side. The force of my impact catapults us over and away to a small clearing near the woods, just far enough to barely escape the effects of the crumbling building. With my arms clutching Ralph, I am able to get a good look at him, and sure enough, he is indeed, unconscious. His forehead is bleeding, and there are a few small cuts on his lips and cheeks.

I start to panic, and glancing down at the unconscious person in my arms, I am thinking that I had made a terrible, terrible mistake by not revealing to Ralph and Felix about the truth.

The ground is fast approaching; I twist my body so that I may get a greater impact than Ralph when we crash. I can hear Felix and all the others gasp loudly as we plummet into the ground.

 _BAM!_ We both hit the ground the same time, the impact causing a dust cloud to rise up around us. I cough loudly, and then let go of Ralph and stand up. Turning my head, I see Felix bounding towards me, hammer in hand, in long, looping strides.

"Oh my God, RJ. Is he okay?" Felix asks me nervously, crouching besides me by Ralph's unmoving body.

"I don't know, I don't know." I mutter as I slap Ralph's face gently with one oversized finger, praying intensely inside that he'll wake up and show that he's fine and well. But as the seconds drag pass, Ralph remains motionless, his cuts still bleeding, much to our alarm.

I hear a greater sound, one that sounds like an angry roar, only magnified to extreme levels, come out from behind us; I whip my head back to see what it is. "Oh God," I mutter, sucking in my breath hard at the same time; as where the building had once stood, only the bottom floor was left standing; the rest of the building had crashed down to form a huge heap of bricks and concrete, piled up together in front of the building. The wreckage is so great, even with our distance, we're just barely able to escape the damage. Dust clouds swirl up from the gigantic wreckage, the damage beyond any magic hammer could fix. I curse inside, at the same time horrified at the destruction, for that is something far beyond what I expected would happen.

Felix simply shakes his head and turns back to Ralph, tapping his hammer to the cuts and bruises, healing them. But still he lies unmoving, making me to believe that although I managed to get him away from the falling building, I may have already killed him in the process.

"C'mon, c'mon, wake up." I find myself muttering under my breath.

After what seems like forever, Ralph jerks alive in our hands, glitching with red sparks as he does so. Letting out a loud groan, he sits up, rubbing his head with his hand.

"God, that hurt, that hurt a lot." He mutters. He raises his head slightly, and surveys the damage of the now-collapsed building. "What…what happened?"

"The building fell, and you were falling with it. I don't know what happened up there, but I don't see you make any effort to hold on to anything, brother." Felix explains.

"I passed out, sorry." Ralph apologizes. "I think my head got hit by a falling brick before I went unconscious, though." His finger tapping the place where it originally bled.

"Anyway, RJ just appeared, came up climbing up the building, came at you from the side, grabbing you on the way, and crash-landed here. I think that impact killed you though."

"Killed me it did," Ralph says "my sores feel better now, though."

"Uh-oh." I mutter. _Whoops, my bad._

"Well, all that matters is that you're okay, right?" I ask nervously, my gaze shifting from Ralph to Felix, then back to Ralph.

"Well, maybe that's all we really…OH MY GOD NOT AGAIN." Ralph rubs his eyes and sits up. Felix turns his head and gasps, and at the same time I hear a collective gasp rise up from all the Nicelanders. I turn my head to see what made all of them so afraid.

A gigantic hand has moved in front of our cabinet window, holding something in its grasp. It doesn't take long for me to register that the 'something' is a huge orange sign, with the words 'OUT OF ORDER' printed on it. Another hand appears, and collectively they fix the sign onto the window of our cabinet.

This means one thing: our game's really broken, for good.

"We're done! We're done!" One of the Nicelanders puts his head in his hands. "Last time we got lucky, this time we're out for sure!" The others all begin to scream and wail, running around in panic as they do so. Ralph and Felix get up and try to calm the screaming crowd down, but the more they try, the more panicked they become. All around the game, trees are fallen, grounds are cracked, and the stars stopped shining down from the silent night sky.

 _And all I'm doing is just standing still._

Seeing Ralph and Felix running to calm everyone down, the building damaged beyond repair, and our game deemed 'Out of Order', a strange, new feeling begins to rise inside me, a feeling that I don't even know how to explain. The feeling completely overwhelms me, and feeling dizzy, I fall down on my back, not even noticing it.

As I lie down on my back, the feeling consumes all my fear and terror, all my uncertainness and my doubts. Instead, as I stand up, a strange courage begins to build up, filling in every fibre of my coding, and I feel a sense of bravery that I haven't experienced before. All the time, not only I have been trying to hide the truth from Ralph and Felix, but from myself as well. All those minutes trying to deny my past is a lie saying that I'm someone that I'm not. All the time I have been running from the truth, trying to hide from my secret, only to find out that you should have revealed them earlier.

Ralph, Felix, the Nicelanders, and all those unplugged characters living here in the game…they don't deserve this. They don't deserve to have their game to be deemed 'Out of Order'; they don't deserve to suffer the continuing earthquakes; they don't deserve to listen to lie after lie. I lied too much, told them too little, warned them too late. All I wanted was to fit in, and what did I cause?

This has to stop. Right now.

"That's enough, everyone." I find myself saying as I step forward, my body bursting with newfound bravery. I have hidden too long, too much; I have made too many suffer because of my own selfishness. It is too much, too much.

It's time that I spill it out.

I hear the others all stop at the sound of my voice. I didn't notice how loud that I was speaking. Maybe the newfound courage has given me new strength to prepare for what's coming next.

"RJ?" I hear Ralph ask, "But you don't have to…"

"It is time." I reply. It's time that I reveal everything, time that I tell them all.

Tell them everything.

"Guys, I'm…" I choke out. This is much harder than I expected. "I'm sorry. For everything."

"RJ? But…I don't understand." Ralph lets out.

"No, Ralph. You _do_ understand, you're just afraid to admit it."

I take a deep breath, and slowly I let the words flow out.

"Some of you may have caught on already, so I won't let it hide anymore."

" _It's my entire fault that all of this happened."_

* * *

 **A/N: Spoiler alert, the next few chapters may be longer than the previous ones, but...yeah, doesn't make much of a difference, right?**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys. *glances at the word count* Whoa, someone's just started writing like she doesn't care, right?**

 **Anyhoo, I wanted to get the next chapter of Unlocked on here before summer is over, so here you go!**

 **Warning: extreme mood whiplashes and heel face turns here. And also slight language.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Ralph

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" I practically yell in disbelief. As I look at the wrecker standing in front of me, I shake my head wildly, as if to shake off what I think I had just heard. "You're kidding me; you've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not, that's the point." RJ lets out, tears welling up at his absurdly green eyes. He lets his hands fall down at his sides and glances at the ground. "It really is my fault, and I'm sorry that I haven't told all of you earlier."

"You can't be serious, RJ!" I shoot back at him, "how can you be the cause of this? You're just standing here, not even engaging in any wrecking! How can you cause all of this?" Although while I am saying this, my mind briefly drifts back for my conversation with Felix back at the clearing near the dump, where he says he found something is wrong with RJ; but I dismissed it as utter nonsense. But now, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I know more than I think I do.

"I-" RJ starts, and then groans painfully as his body bursts into sparks again. The ground beneath our feet literally rips apart at the same time, and jolted by the rough movement, we all fall down onto the cracked ground simultaneously. Out of the corner of my eye, I see RJ get back up on his feet and starts to walk away from the rest of us, but then he stops in his tracks and turns back at us. I plant my hands on the ground and hoist myself up, looking at RJ at the same time. I then step forward to RJ, as if to confront him on whether what he has just said was indeed true. After all, the ground did shake and quake when he glitched, there's really no denying it.

"Is that really true, RJ?" I ask my brother, "I thought it is purely coincidence that the ground shook when you glitched, but…"

"Felix has already busted me." RJ mutters softly, his voice wavering; his eyes glued to the ground, not even looking up at me, "and I figured that you have caught on when he told you his theory about me. And I'm so sorry, Ralph, I'm sorry!" His voice breaks on the last syllable and suddenly, without any warning, he falls to his knees, his arms clutching at his sides, sobbing hard. "I'm so sorry…" He repeats.

By now Felix and most of the Nicelanders have stood up and formed a circle around the two of us, and there we stand, looking on at the person curled up on the ground. The world is quiet, apart from the sobbing person on his knees.

"I shouldn't have lied to you," RJ chokes out, his posture unmoving, "I should have gone straight in and told you the truth, but no, I didn't. Instead I made up a story, hidden secrets about myself, and put you all into trouble. I lied, Ralph, I lied! And I can't seem to stop!"

"But…why could you lie to me?" I half-yell, half-ask him. Inside, I am fuming that RJ had been lying to me all along, but at the same time, I know if I show it, I may not be able to coax RJ to reveal his true intentions. So instead, I simply stretched out my arms, asking "I'm your _brother_ , RJ; why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you?"

" _Because you would never trust a_ _ **clone**_ _!"_ RJ looks up at me, eyes red from crying, tears streaming down his face. He is a mess, a literal emotional wreck.

Unintentionally, I step back from RJ, aghast by what I just heard. As far as I'm concerned, clones of characters indeed exist since the first day the arcade came into action. Unlike recolors, in which certain characters were palette swaps of other main characters, but bore different personalities than their originals; clones tend to be unpredictable glitches, the scraps of an unfinished project left behind by the developers of the game, never to be released. Although it is true that some clones may be quite different from their originals, and even worthy to claim the title of a palette swap, one thing is sure about clones: they are dangerous; their codes can cause disastrous changes to the game's coding, and must be immediately locked up when seen, for the safety of the game.

…At least, that's what we've been told over the years. If I remember correctly, the last sighting of a clone in the arcade was probably about 15 years ago, in another racing game I think. The clone was probably caught and locked back up in about 2 hours after her appearance. But that was such a long time ago, long enough for us to believe that there are no more so-called clones hidden in the arcade, that we stopped looking out for them.

And now, seeing RJ sobbing at my feet and recalling all my past memories, I cannot help thinking what an idiot I was. _Of course_ RJ is no twin brother of mine, but a badly programmed recolored clone of me. His code linking to the main core of our game; the earthquakes rocking through the game at the same time of his glitches; our game's code going completely haywire after he appeared; my failure to remember him in any of my past memories; my parents unlike what RJ had described…of course, of course, of course. All the time, I was so excited to meet another person who claimed to be similar to myself that I failed to obvious threat standing right in front of my own eyes.

And now staring at my brother-no, cross that out, _the clone_ , tearing up completely at my feet, I cannot help feeling disgusted towards him. To believe that I had been completely fooled by his lies, just to get us to like him, to believe that he is one of our own, to dismiss the fact that he is someone completely different from us and we should be wary of him, I felt extremely ashamed by my own actions. Felix was completely right: I should be wary towards RJ, and should try to know him better. But no, no; instead I took RJ under my wing, treated him as if he is really my brother, and even _defended_ him at times. Oh God, I was so stupid, why have I even treated him like this, like an actual brother of mine?!

Furious, I want to raise my fists up and plow them down on RJ; angry at him for lying to us, angry at him to not stand up for the damage in our game, angry at myself for trusting him all along! I don't care if he regenerates or not, all I want is to see him get hurt, to humiliate him the way he humiliated me! With a growl, I raise my fists and hold them up high, ready to bring them down on RJ.

But while every fibre in my code is screaming for me to clash my raised fists on him, I somehow manage to resist the tempting urge to do so.

Because there is still something I want to know about RJ…

"So, you're a clone, just a clone of me?" I ask in a half-mocking tone, my face still scrunched up in anger. "Did you know this all along?"

By now RJ has somehow stopped his sobbing and managed to get back on his feet. He looks up at me and slowly nods his head. "Back then I had avoided answering you what my name stands for, it is just another lie of mine."

"Well, what does it stand for then, _clone_?" I snort, my fists still raised, not actually caring for a word he will say.

"Ralph, maybe you…" Felix begins, but stops abruptly as he realizes that I'm so angry to the point that I'm not interested in what others think.

"Come on, clone!" I yell at RJ "Cat got your tongue? I haven't got all day, you know."

RJ sighs and lowers his head again. "It's…Ralph Junior. The developers gave me this name just to show that I wasn't a real character, just merely a shadow of you, Ralph. But…when none of you asked much about me I had thought that you had neglected the fact that I did not belong here, so I didn't reveal it. I was afraid that if I told you the truth, then you'll lock me up again."

"You knew that you were dangerous all along, yet you still continued to fool us. Being a glitch, you're not allowed to leave our game, meaning that you could wreak more havoc than what just has happened! If not for the fact that Litwak has deemed our game Out of Order I'm sure that you'll still be able to hide from us!" I yell back at him, glowering. "What I don't understand is that why you made such an elaborate story about yourself, such that we would never suspect that you are not one of our own. Give me a believable reason!"

" _I don't wanna go back, okay!"_ RJ shouts back in my face. He then looks away, blinking back tears. _"I don't wanna go back…"_

I roll my eyes and snigger. _Of course_ he doesn't want to go back: he just wants to stay and watch as our game falls to pixels! "You don't wanna go back; ha! What an excuse." I mock "You know, clone; there's no escaping the fact that you'll probably will be locked up again. Say what you want and I'll tell you: you're getting back in your prison before this day is over. No excuses!"

"Please! I love it here. I don't wanna do back. I don't wanna get locked up again." RJ puts his head in his hands and starts sobbing again. "Please…"

Seeing Ralph Junior, clad in his rumpled green polo and dark blue overalls, tears streaming down his face, looking very sorry to everyone around him, a small part of me tries to surface; a part that is compassionate and loving, a part that is so unlike the person I am now, a part that will somehow be able to toss RJ's wrongdoings away and lift his spirits up…

But instead, I squish that small, compassionate part of myself back down, and angry, I do the most unbelievable thing I have ever done in my lifetime, one that will make me regret as long as I live.

I slap him.

RJ falls to the ground, his body glitching again. I quickly fall on all fours, bracing myself as another earthquake tries to rip our game apart. As the others all fall to the ground, I glare at RJ with immense hatred. Just his existence in our game makes my blood boil like crazy. Quickly, as soon as the earthquake ended, I get on my feet, just quick enough to beat RJ, and plant one giant hand on his body pinning him to the cracked ground.

"You selfish scoundrel." I say in a low voice. "You have caused enough havoc to our game, and you still want to continue to do so."

"No, I-"

"And I don't freaking care about a word that you'll say, you disgusting creature." I continue, then I release my hand on him "Run all you want, clone; I don't want to see your face ever again."

RJ stands and rubs a tear from his eye, now completely red from crying. His left cheek and eye have completely swollen and blackened, the results of my slapping from earlier "Please…" He pleads me again "I want-"

"NOW!" I roar.

RJ literally shakes at my voice, like a single leaf hanging from a branch, trembling in the wind. My eyes bear into his, and I let out a small growl. Then very, very slowly, he backs away from me and runs off, still wiping endless tears from his eyes.

"Jeez…" I mutter. I let my hand fall, and then turn back to the others. Felix and all the Nicelanders are standing still, as if dumbstruck by all what just happened. "Well come on, why are you still standing here?! As long as that clone is still here, we'll be dead by tomorrow. I'm now going home to pack, and I assume that you should do the same." I turn and stomp across the crumbled building and up the alley that led to my home.

No one follows me.

* * *

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I yell, bringing my fists down to the bricks again and again and again. I didn't care how much I am wrecking; I am on fire, fueled by my hatred for RJ and my past stupidity, so angry that nothing is able to quench me.

On the ground nearby rests a fairly small bundle, warped up in haste, containing all the things I need to take for my journey beyond _Fix-it Felix jr_. I haven't packed much, though: a spare polo shirt and overalls, identical to the ones I am wearing now; some towels and a toothbrush: Vanellope gave them to me, saying that she wouldn't accept anyone with body odor and bad breath; a few novels: Felix told me to read them, as if to say that game-jumping isn't entertaining enough, ha! As if…

Suddenly, the ground beneath me jerks and I fall to the ground, the earthquake causing some of the bricks to slide down from the dump. I growl and get up, brushing the stray brick flecks from my overalls. RJ's still in the game, glitching -and wrecking our game- like he doesn't care.

I bang my fists down, trying to blink away my thoughts of RJ…RJ, RJ, RJ. God, why do I always think about that parasite?! I shouldn't worry about him, he'll be gone with the game when it gets unplugged and Felix and the rest of us have gone to other games for refuge. Since we cannot completely delete him, and he said he loves it here, then why not let him die with the game! Satisfies both his wishes, right?

"Ralph, I-AAAAAAHHH!" I hear someone scream. I snap open my eyes, only to find Felix shrinking in fear in front of me.

And that my fist is just centimetres away from his head.

I sigh and carefully lower my fist. That's when I notice that Felix, unlike myself, has not bought anything with him. "Where's your stuff?" I ask him "you know this game cannot be saved, right?"

"Well," he starts, looking from side to side, then back to me "well, I can pack later if I have to. But please, Ralph, listen to me, can you?"

I sigh again and bend down to Felix, "well, go on. What is it?"

Felix coughs "I think you should, um, talk to him."

"Who? Ralph Junior?! You've got to be kidding me!" I scoff "If I remember correctly, just before I started our game day, you've been against me for keeping RJ in our game. Now, he has revealed himself as the criminal for our damage, and you've seen how much destruction he could do, you're actually going to stand on his side?!" I shake my head fiercely "You're strange, Felix, that is all what I can say."

"Ralph, just…listen to me." Felix says softly and slowly to me. "RJ may be a clone, but that does not mean he is dangerous."

"You've just seen what he can do! Felix, he is beyond-"

"I'm just saying, maybe there is some reason that he does not want to get locked up again! That's all!" Felix shouts back in my face. With his angry tone and his face flushed completely red, I admit I haven't seen Felix look so furious before. Unintentionally, I step back a bit, slightly because I'm shocked by his words.

For a while, both of us are silent, Felix's face still flustered with rage. At this particular moment, the small, compassionate part of me tries to muscle back up inside me, as if to try and sway me towards Felix's words.

I stand back up. Somehow, deep inside, I realize that Felix may be right. In my anger, I realize that all this time I may have misjudged RJ, treated him far, far worse than he should, and burnt all my blind rage upon him. RJ may not want to go back, but not because of the fact that he wants to continue to wreak havoc here. Maybe there is something more he is hiding about himself, something that frightens him, to the point that he would rather stay in our broken game rather than getting locked up again.

Maybe there is more I need to know about him, more enough for Felix to sorta give him a second chance.

All I need to do is to make the right move…

"Ah all right." I finally let out, turning away from the dump "but you better know what you're doing."

* * *

 **A/N: University classes will be starting in September, so I won't be here that often. However, I do have a few more WIR-themed projects in mind, and I hope I'll be able to share them with you soon.**

 **Anyhoo, I really hoped you enjoyed reading this, and that I'll see you again soon! :)**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey there guys. Whoa! It's been a long time since I done anything here. Yes, I admit that university life has finally caught up to me, and that I have fewer and fewer time to work on this. I once thought I could finish this story by October, but then, you know what?**

 **BIG OVERSTATEMENT.**

 **I'm really, really sorry on the fact that this single chapter took about two months to complete, and I thank you for all your patience. I had a blast in writing this, paid it off for doubling the number of words in this chapter; and as I am typing this, I hope that you would enjoy reading this as much as I did writing.**

 **Before you go and read this chapter, though, there are two things I would like to address about Unlocked as a whole.**

 **First up, the rating change. Unlocked has been 'upgraded' to a T rating. Yep, you've heard right, but I think some of you may have seen it coming sooner or later. Believe me, I DID NOT expect this rating change to come at this point, but I really had to slap it in due to a rather violent fight in the beginning-middle-ish of this chapter. The fight was completely improvised: I did not have it in the original script, and I had to put it in due to a mistake I wrote but I did not have the heart to remove it here. So there, Unlocked is officially 'upgraded', though I don't think that'll be a great problem since still allows default display of stories rated T haha.**

 **Secondly, the observant of you may have noticed that a cover has been uploaded to this story. And…if you have read Unlocked carefully, you may have noticed that the character looks a bit…different to what I have described in the story. This is actually, ahem, a spoiler, yet I think it would be a good cover, since there are not many chapters till the end of Unlocked to be honest. But you know what about spoilers? SCREW THEM! :)**

 **Finally, these two messages are addressed to these two people:**

 **Guest: Wow, gee thanks! I'm glad you liked my story! It's glad to see that some people still read this humble, amateur story of mine, and I am really grateful for every support I get.**

 **writingisrelaxin: Yep, I get it, I get it. That's really the major reaction most people got after reading chapter 10. I had tried my best to portray what it is like being betrayed and may have gone a wee bit over the edge. And…OH MY RALPH DID I READ WRONG OR DID YOU ASK IF THE SOLUTION IS TO** _ **FUSE THE ORIGINAL WITH THE CLONE?!**_ **No, uh, NO! I** _ **will not**_ **be fusing RJ with Ralph, or with anyone else! Sorry, but that's really my initial reaction in reading your comment. Other than that, thanks for your creative comment: another fanfic may has just spawned out of this! And yes, a solution will be addressed in this chapter, but you'll have to read to find out!**

 **Okay, I'm done here. You can go read the chapter now. Hope you'll like it! :)**

* * *

Chapter 11

Ralph

I start trekking up the path that led to the river near the train station, since Felix claimed that he saw RJ running in that direction earlier. To be brutally honest, I am quite reluctant about all of this, and deep down I believe that talking to RJ will not make that much of a difference. But…well, if Felix said it's worth a shot, then why not?

At least _that'll_ help calm Felix down…

I do not carry anything from the dump, apart from a small hammer that I slipped into my pocket earlier. And no, not _that_ kind of hammer, but Felix's Golden Hammer, the same one that healed me earlier. Felix said that clone or not, what I did to RJ was purely unacceptable, and that I really need to do something to redeem myself. Hence, the hammer; though I don't see it as anything that can help improve our current situation.

" _You just walk up to the river, find him, say that you're sorry, and then ask him about why he wants to stay. Is that simple, Ralph, get it?"_ Felix had told me just before I left for the river. Seriously, is Felix's really _that_ naïve? Does he really believe _that_ will be able to solve this?!

Strangely, the river's completely silent, and the water seems unreal even from a distance. I stop at the edge of the water and gently dip a finger into the river. There's no doubt about it: the water's completely gone, just a blue projection of light remained. The earthquakes, the building, and now the river…God, why had I let that clone loose back in the first place?! Why?! With this rate, he is literally tearing our game apart, pixel by pixel, code by code! Wait till I get my hands…

I suddenly stop in my thoughts. Thinking about beating up RJ once more may land me into a fight again, which is probably the last thing Felix wants. Anger will not be the solution this time. _"Breathe in, breathe out; breathe in, breathe out…"_ I mutter under my breath, trying to push my previous thoughts away. But deeply I know for certain that my anger will come back sooner or later, to the point that even I'll not be able to control.

I walk to the bridge which spans over the river, the single spot where one can cross to the other side without wetting himself. I set one foot on the bridge, which, for a character of my size and weight, is surprisingly sturdy. As I walk across it, I happen to glance down into the water suspended underneath, when seem I catch a glimpse of green peeking out from the blue. I stop, and lean over the bridge to take a closer look, and there is no mistaking the green polo and the dark blue overalls that I know a certain character always wears…

There he is. I found him.

Pleased with the fact that I'm able to find him so quickly, I literally hop off the bridge and gently put one foot into the water. Like I suspected, there is no sound of my foot getting into the water, nor is my foot wet. No wonder RJ picked this as his hiding place; unless you went close to the river, there is no sign that the water is gone.

I wade into the water and creep closer to the bridge, trying not to make any sound as I walk, trying not to let RJ know about my presence here…

"So, you're here to finish me off?" RJ asks in a mocking tone, not even turning around to see me.

I suck in my breath; _busted_. Even without making a sound, RJ somehow knows that it is me who is looking for him. And…he isn't happy about it.

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you." I say with my teeth clenched, trying to hide my anger bubbling underneath. _"Do not punch him, Ralph; breathe in, breathe out…"_

"And what? You're expecting that I'm just gonna go in and believe that?" He snorts out angrily "after everything that has just happened?"

"No, I-"

"Yeah, have fun beating up someone who - _surprise!_ \- is so-called dangerous and scorn them by calling them scoundrels. And then, _sorry!_ " He sings in a high-pitched voice " _'I made a terrible mistake earlier, and now I am hoping that you'll forgive me for not punching you up again~'_ And besides, why do you even bother to come here? I'll be gone when the game gets unplugged, and you'll be off and away riding unicorns and stuff. No need to waste your remaining energy finishing me up."

"BECAUSE YOU _ARE_ DANGEROUS!" I yell back at him, my temper flaring like mad. I can't believe it! All this chaos and destruction and _still_ he refuses to admit he is the Bad Guy here! He still thinks that I'm wrong for being here? Why should I still have sympathy for this parasite here?!

This is it, this is the last straw. I stand up quickly, raising my fists, about to bang them down on RJ…

I am not fast enough.

Very rapidly, RJ stands up, turns around to face me, and with one powerful swing of his arm, pushes me backward until my back is slammed against the curved, muddy walls that cupped the water. I let out a loud _"Ooof!"_ and feel a wince of pain spread like lightning through my code, stunning me for a split second. For a guy that has just been heavily beaten up a few moments ago, he still packs a huge punch of power in him.

But then again, he's no ordinary guy…

RJ reels his right arm back, fingers already curled into fists, about to land another blow on me. I roll quickly to my right, narrowly avoiding RJ's punch. He screams in anger as he tries to free his deeply-implanted fist from the muddy wall, while I see this as a chance to get away and attack my opponent from behind. By the time his hand is free, I have crept behind him and I shove him towards the wall, trying to implant the rest of his body into the mud as well.

He lets out a loud groan, then with some effort, manages to free one of his legs and kick me by the shins. I let out a howl as I fall to the ground, moaning with agony, but not before grabbing one of RJ's legs from behind and pulling him down with me...

 _Whoops, my bad._

RJ twists in my grasp, and suddenly, he is kneeling on top of me, getting an absolute advantage over me. He punches me hard, in my face, on my chest, everywhere. RJ doesn't stop; the blows just keep on coming. My face feels numb, and I feel weak, as my code bleeds out of the newly-created wounds.

" _GOD, RALPH; I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!"_ RJ screams in my face, lashing out physical pain continuously as he did so. His left eye is still swollen shut, and his face is a physical wreck; but there is no doubting the anger glaring out from his expressions.

Code is bleeding all over my face, and my vision is getting blurry. With some of my remaining strength, I manage to grab hold one of RJ's arms and throw it, along with the rest of him, over my shoulder. He lands on the ground with a terrific _THUMP_ , and when I don't hear anything for a while, I stand up, wiping the bleeding code from my eyes, and glance down at RJ. Like me, his whole body is riddled with wounds and bleeding with code, his is green compared to mine's red.

I slam a palm on RJ's chest, pushing him further into the ground while I keep on punching him with the other hand. It is at that moment that he chooses to wake up, and animates to life underneath my hand. RJ glances from side to side with his good eye, registering where he is. Suddenly, he squirms and twists underneath my fingers, glitching left and right as he does so, trying to get out of my grasp. I curse inside, hoping he would stop moving soon. But no, he doesn't stop; he doesn't stop, and even tries to bite my hand to free himself. _"Let go of me, scoundrel!"_ He yells, kicking and biting me whenever he can, still refusing to surrender.

That's. Freaking. It.

" _SHUT UP!"_ I raise my hand up and instinctively, RJ snaps his good eye shut and stops squirming. It is as if someone has flipped the "Off" switch on him and told him that it was no use for him to keep fighting me. He breathes hard, as if trying to tell me he has finally quit fighting. I, triumphant, curl my hand into a fist, and let out a victory as I am about to land my hand on my prey…

That's when I hear it: the sound of rushing water in the distance. Then my body is hit with what seems like a huge moving wall, making me slip my grasp on RJ. Something rushes into my mouth, and I am swept off my feet. A horrific thought sweeps through my head as I try to claw my nails into the ground.

 _The water, it is back!_

Even with my hands firmly implanted into the ground, my body is no match to the gigantic wall of water that slams at us from the side. My head crashes into the ground, stirring dirt all over my face. Mouth already full of water, I know I don't have much time underwater until I can't hold it any longer. I try to scramble my way back up to the surface, desperate for fresh air, desperate not to die and possibly get regenerated at the bottom of the river.

My body floats upward, but my hands won't budge. They just keep stuck in the ground, refusing to move with the rest of me.

I let out a mental groan and with all my might, shake and try to pull my arms out from the mud. My arms where it got implanted into the mud started to sore and grow red, but I clench my teeth together and close my eyes, continuing to try and free both my arms.

My body is strong, but the mud is even stronger. No matter how hard, how long I try, I cannot free my hands. I cannot free them. I can't! Already tired from the previous fight, I can feel my strength beginning to fade, weighing me down into the bottom of the river, sinking me. Light-headed, I don't resist, I don't. I know I'm dead for good, but I really have no strength left in me to fight back…

" _Just…let me go."_ I think _"Just let me die and regenerate somewhere better…"_

Suddenly, just when I feel that I'm totally doomed, I feel something, or somethings, warp around me on both sides, giving my arms sharp, painful tugs until they break free of the mud, and I start being hauled upward. The second I break the surface, I snap my eyes open and, seeing the ledge nearby, grab hold tight to it with my massive hands. Then I cough—hard, spitting out water and gasping to breathe.

I am so busy in my actions, that I don't even realize to that point I don't know what, or who, rescued me. I glance upwards, and I see him:

Ralph Junior.

His clothes are stuck to his body, wet and splattered with green coding. He just stands there, looking at me, but not saying anything. His hands are badly bruised, probably not just from the fight, but also by the action of saving me from the river…

For a while, we just look at each other, as if to register what really just happened. Then finally, I break the silence.

"Why…why did you do this? Why did you save me?"

"Don't know…" He replies bluntly with a small shrug. He then turns away from me. I scramble up from the rushing river after him. "Stop!" I tell him _"Stop!"_

RJ doesn't stop.

I chase after him, calling and yelling for him to stop. I think I must have annoyed him, because eventually, he turns around to face me, clearly irritated. "What now?" He asks me "Why are you here? Coming back for seconds? Our fight was not fierce enough?!"

"No!" I argue back. I am about to say something more when I remember the Hammer that I have in my pocket-dang it! Did it fell out during the fight? I fumble in my pocket, and yes! There it is! The Hammer! It's still here! I tug the hammer out and hold it up to RJ. "No, for…this."

Before he can even move, I have stepped forward and held RJ by the jaw. He tries to squirm, but he is unmovable under my grasp. Very, very gently, I reach out with the Hammer and softly tap it against his face.

The change is instantaneous. RJ's face flickers for a second or two, then suddenly, it is as good as new, completely clear of dried code and bruises, no sign of which it has been beaten up earlier. RJ blinks, with both now-functioning eyes, and then gingerly, brings his hands up to his face, his fingers running over the smooth, undamaged skin in astonishment. _"But…but why?"_ He squeaks out.

I don't answer.

" _Why?!"_ He asks again, his both hands opening up for emphasis. Now _he's_ the one asking questions; he must haven't expected this to happen.

I drop the Hammer into his open palm. "I think it's time we become even." I gesture to the Hammer in his hand "Go and fix yourself up."

"Maybe," he mutters, yet I can see a faint but definite trace of a smile creeping up his lips. RJ shrugs, then reaches forward and taps me with the Hammer anyway.

* * *

A few minutes later, I sit next to RJ by the river, our bodies completely healed, just glancing ahead without saying anything. And it is at that time I remember why I came to find him…

I scoot closer to RJ, and without looking at him, I slowly ask "RJ, what was it like, before you were unlocked?"

RJ does not say anything, but uses an oversized finger to doodle random patterns in the ground. It might be the lighting, the way his wet clothes cling to him, or the posture that he is sitting with his back hunched, he seems younger, smaller; to the point that I am convinced that I am waiting a teen or a child instead of a full-grown adult to reply.

A minute passes, and still he makes no sound, continuing to draw scribbles mindlessly in the ground. Then, finally, he draws in a huge sigh, and looks up at me.

"Dark," he squeaks out "you're in a huge dark cube, one without any seams, sealed very tightly. There are no doors, no windows."

"Oh, RJ…" I find myself muttering, since _this_ isn't something that I'm expecting; but before I can continue, RJ cuts me off.

"And you're in the middle, trapped inside." He chokes out a sob, and then he finishes _"Alone."_

I gasp, instantly forgetting most of my earlier hatred towards RJ. If I remember correctly, RJ said he's been locked up for a long time, if he's not lying; then… "Oh RJ," I say again "I didn't know, I didn't know; I'm sorry, I-"

"But that's not the worst bit…" RJ mutters before turning away. I gasp again softly, completely engrossed in RJ's words, my code pulsing along with the rhythm in his voice.

"The worst bit is that when you're locked up, you're not… _you_."

" _WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"_ I shout, my voice louder than it normally should be.

"When you're in the cube, you… _lose your form_. You're nothing but a cluster of a million tiny pixels, scattered around inside the cube, no sign of proof that you are the remains of a living character."

He lets out a small choke, then continues. "You can't speak, but you can see, and probably hear, not that there is much to see and hear in there anyway. It's just you in the cube, there's not even a clock to show the time, not even a chalk to mark how long the days have passed. It's just you…broken up. _Forever._ " He breaks away from me and buries his head in his hands, sobbing harder and harder by the second, until it becomes a piercing wail that he couldn't contain.

I pull away from him, completely horrified by his words. Is he lying? No, by the looks of it, by the tone he spoke to me about this matter, by the way he sobbed and chocked when he brought the matter up, by the look of true terror in his eyes when he spoke...

Felix was right, Felix was right. RJ was indeed hiding something else all along, and it isn't pretty. Up until now, I had assumed that before he got unlocked, RJ would be unconscious, trapped in a deep sleep with his backstories until he got summoned, never knowing how much time has passed before he got unlocked. But if what RJ said was true, then…

"I'm…" I start, but then I stop, overcome by my own sadness for RJ. All the anger from the fight has now burnt away, as I am consumed by misery of RJ's words. Sure, RJ's a clone, but does he really deserve this? Or come to think of it, does _anyone_ deserve this? An eternity of being trapped alone, stripped of your own identity, and then getting glares and immense hatred right after getting their freedom; _does anyone deserve this?!_

No, not anyone; not even RJ.

Compared with what RJ went through in the hours before and after he got unlocked, all my tantrums and rage from all these years ago all seem nothing horrific. All these years, trapped inside a seamless prison, trying not to lose his identity and sanity while broken up into pixels, not even having the chance to voice out his opinions. Poor guy; clone or not, he really deserves more…

" _I'm sorry."_ I finally let out. I drape my arm over RJ's shoulder, as if to comfort him.

Suddenly, without warning, my brother -yes, that's what I'm calling him now- turns and flings his arms around my body, and starts sobbing into my chest. As I watch, I am reminded for Vanellope, how she tries to wrap her tiny arms around my huge chest and cry, pouring her feelings into me after a rough day. _'Really just a kid,'_ I think as RJ keeps on sobbing, his tears soaking my shirt _'he's really just a kid.'_

After I've recovered from my shock, I put one of hands on RJ's back and start to pat it softly. "There, there…" I mutter, as RJ continues to sob, "I'm sorry, I have been a complete jerk. Please, RJ, forgive me; you don't deserve any of this. If you don't want to get locked up again, then it's fine by me, we'll, uh, we'll find another way to save the game…"

As soon as I finish saying that sentence, RJ pulls back from me sharply, his eyes bloodshot from crying. But as I look into them, I see something else burning inside, something that I haven't seen before:

 _Determination._

"No Ralph, if I continue to stay, you'll be the ones homeless. I may be gone when the game gets unplugged, but what about you guys? You'll be out there, wandering, trying not to get yourselves killed."

"Well, we, um-"

"No; just, _NO!_ " RJ yells, at the same time pushing himself away from me and standing up "I can't do that! I can't do that! I'm already a selfish scoundrel in what I did to you and your game earlier, and I cannot keep on doing this! I can't just go and kick out all out of this game! You belong here, _I don't!_ Sorry, Ralph, but I can't do it, I just can't!" He turns and walks away from me, and I quickly jump up on my feet to follow him.

"But you _do_ belong here!" I argue back, chasing after him. "You're my _brother_!"

" _Don't."_ He shoots back, still walking away. "And don't you try to change my mind by saying I belong here. That is a lie, Ralph, a complete lie. I am just a clone, just a waste of space and coding. And I don't need you, or anyone, to prove that this is true."

" _STOP RIGHT HERE! LIKE, RIGHT NOW!"_ I command him. When he doesn't stop, _again_ , I reach forward and grab him by the shoulders, my nails digging into his skin so hard that he winces, and finally stops.

"You can't leave, RJ! You know that, right?"

"Then what? I stay and get washed away with the game while you guys go homeless?! Nope! Can't do that! Yes, I know I have said this many, many times already, but no, Ralph! I can't do it!" He forces his elbow backward and jams me in the chest at the last syllable.

Groaning, I gather myself up and find that RJ has now turned and faced me, his eyes blazing harder with determination. I try to speak, but I catch myself at the last second, realizing that no matter what comes out of my lips, RJ would be sure to refute it easily, that I really have no say in determining his fate. No matter how hard I persuade, how loud I shout, nothing will change RJ's mind. I sigh: stubbornness indeed ran in the family.

"You have to delete me, Ralph. You have to. It's the only way that you can save this game." RJ says, before I can even start.

I sigh again; only this time, it is out of relief other than desperateness. "RJ," I say softly, as if trying to coax him to put down his idea of leaving the game in his own terms, "I'm very sorry, but there really is no point in deleting a character. Codes are complex things, wired to the mains in ways we don't even understand; characters can never be completely deleted. Really. Believe me, someone tried to delete the code of my very best friend from another game, and she ended up being a glitch, like you. Complete deletion of a character is nearly impossible. We'll never do it."

RJ falls silent. He glances down at the ground, not saying anything. I let out a small mental cheer, celebrating at myself for steering RJ away from doing something terrible. _Great, now I just have to tell Felix that I apologized and that we can start finding a cure to our game!_

But my happiness doesn't last long…

"Well, then there must be some other way to get rid of me, right? You can't delete me, since you said that it is impossible; and I cannot go and just hurl myself off the side of the building: the building's gone, and I'm still here, in my game, I'm sure I'll be immediately regenerated."

I suck in my breath hard: not only had I failed in creating a diversion, but he's now thinking on the terms of _suicide_! What good is that here?! I'm completely knocked back to square one with this response.

Frustrated, I yell "Well, what do you want then?! WHAT, RJ, _WHAT?!_ "

He sighs and glances up "Then there's only one way left to save the game…"

He pauses, then lets the words fall into place.

" _You have to lock me up again."_

"BUT THAT'S PRACTICALLY SUICIDE!" I yell back. "You hate being locked up, and you mentioned the conditions are terrible there. I'm not going to bring you back to the place where you don't belong!"

"You have to do it!" RJ snaps back in my face.

"RJ…" I start, trying to stop him.

 _"'CAUSE I DON'T WANNA BE THE BAD GUY ANYMORE!"_

I freeze, quite literally freeze, as my own words from long ago hit back at me. Back then, when I said the exact same words, it was out of frustration and jealousy, out of envy and desperation. Those words then driven me down the path of literal chaos and destruction, wreaking havoc _more_ than a Bad Guy should do. But when RJ said them…I can see that it is not out of any of the things that I just mentioned, but because he is really caring for our game, and that it is out of regret and shame. The very same words, but so unlike in context and meaning. And as I stand looking at RJ, I can't help but see him as someone different, someone more than just a clone or a real character…

But still the problem remains…

"I. Cannot. Lock. You. Up. _Period._ " I spit out.

"But the game…" RJ protests.

"That's not an excuse. I won't let you, nor myself, nor anyone do it. I swear. Now, if you just…" My sentence gets cut off at that exact moment as I see a flash of blue peeking out from the forest. I sharpen up my gaze, and then gasp.

"Felix?! Why are you here?"

"I wanted answers, that's all." He walks closer and looks at us up and down. "Let me guess: you two fought again."

" _WE DID NOT!"_ I deny.

"Did too." Felix said back, "I saw you two fighting in the river, fighting like idiots."

I roll my eyes. "How long have you been here, brother?"

"Long enough to hear anything you just said and did." He replies back, walking towards us.

I do an eye-roll again. It is then that I notice RJ is no longer by my side, and has ran and knelt down in front of Felix.

"Please Felix," he pleads "please lock me up again. Please!"

"RJ, I-"

" _Please!"_ He cries again, clutching Felix's sides tightly as he does so. "Ralph won't listen, he won't do it. Please, only you can do it, only you know what is right for our game. My presence here is a mistake. Lock me up again!"

"Don't listen to him!" I cry, desperate. I run to RJ, trying to get him back onto his feet, but he still remains kneeling in front of Felix, refusing to budge. "Felix, you have to listen to me!"

RJ turns and suddenly pushes me to the ground. "I'm getting myself locked up again, and you can't stop me! Don't listen to him, Felix, please!"

I start to argue back when I see it: RJ is glitching again, and this time, he doesn't stop. Seconds later, the ground tears up beneath us, shaking and quaking. I scream, and I grab hold of RJ, who has somehow grabbed Felix in one of his hands, and we huddle together as the world crashes in around us. As the game shakes, RJ is squealing and crying, clutching his body in pain as flashes of green rips his code apart again and again and again. Amid the chaos, I manage to throw both my arms around RJ and Felix, and although I can feel his glitch pulsing though my code, and I determined to hold on the entire time.

So there we are, three dudes clutching each other in the grassland like crazy, holding on as the world falls in pieces around us. For how long, I don't know, it seems like forever.

Finally, the world stops shaking, and everything is dead quiet. I let go of RJ and stand up.

What I see is totally not what I expected.

What used to be trees in the edge of the clearing, _code_ has replaced them; raw, messy coding, dripping down and running in the cracks. The ground around us has caved in, like a crater, sides also running with raw code. When I walk out of the crater, the landscape I see far away is blurred, as if they are not physical anymore…

By now, RJ and Felix had climbed out and they stand next to me. RJ gingerly approaches me and says. "Please, Ralph. I am tearing the game apart, I know I am. I can't stop myself, even if I want to. But…you can, only you two can. Get rid of me, save this game."

I don't answer immediately, since I am too mesmerized by the damage and destruction all around us. RJ keeps pleading me, clutching at my arm to get my attention.

" _Please…"_

It is at those moments that I think I'm at a crossroads, where I need to make some of the most important decisions in my life. Here, I am given a choice: either let my brother loose and crash the whole game, or I save this game…for the price of RJ. An emotional fight is brewing up, swelling up inside me. Every fibre of my code is screaming at me not to let RJ go, not to return him to his dark, grey past. But as I see the world damaged around us, I can't help but think that if I let him go, the game would continue to crash and everyone would be homeless. It would be extremely selfish of myself. And RJ…didn't he say not to worry about him, that he's willing to accept his fate?

 _Don't do it, Ralph, don't do it!_ My mind screams. I clutch my head in agony, but it only worsened the pain. With RJ and Felix looking intensely on at me, I know I have to make a choice now, before everything around us crashes down again, before we can afford to lose anything more…

Then, finally, bombarded by my emotions and burdened down by my pain, I made the worst move I've made in my entire life.

My head bobs down, then back up. From a point of view, it is nothing really, just a simple nod. But in that instant, that nod means something more: a clear sign of my choice.

 _Yes._

The reaction is immediate. RJ, seeing this, climbs out of the crater and starts to run. "Good, bring a chest, and also a few locks. We're doing this."

"Wait, we're doing this _now_?!" Felix asks, trying to catch up.

"Yes, now; like, right now." RJ calls back. "Ralph, you coming?"

I hear him, but my legs can't seem to move, my body feels unusually heavy, and I can't seem to drag myself over to RJ. They might not see it, but inside me, everything is crashing down, breaking, wrecking. Bucketfuls of emotions and feeling are pouring all over me. Soaked by all of this, I can't help but to let tears flow out of my eyes as the previous scene replays again and again in my mind.

 _Yes._

"Hey, you coming?!" He asks again.

 _Yes._

 _"RALPH!"_ He screams at me. "Aren't you coming or not?!"

Slowly, very slowly, I wipe the tears and lumber after RJ and Felix, my mind singing the song of a thousand regrets.

* * *

 **A/N: So, here it is. I hope you liked it. Can't wait to share the next one with you guys! :)**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hoo! Okay! Now before you go and chuck your computers and smartphones at me for delaying so much in writing a new chapter, I would like to address a few thing regarding this.**

 **This chapter was supposed to be one of the most emotional ones in the _Unlocked_ , so a lot of effort was put into it to grasp the emotions right. I don't want it to be like about the characters breaking down every 5 minutes or so. But as it turns, out, that proved no easy challenge, and I came to the point that even if I kept writing this non-stop it wouldn't come right. So there it was, the unfinished chapter 12 just sitting there on my computer, untouched for a long time.**

 **It was until last night, reading my past few chapters, that I realized that I had to finish this. I realized that some of you actually had the heart to care about this simple story of mine, and were deeply concerned with what would happen next to my characters. I had to address what would be happening to RJ, Ralph, Felix and the rest of the characters who were living in the game. I have no right to finish this off with a cliffhanger. Believe me, I still have a few chapters planned in store before this fully wraps up. But I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry that this took me so long to come out, but I just couldn't get everything right. And even as I am re-reading my chapter, I can tell it is not perfect, not the same as I imagined in my mind. But I just wanted this chapter to be a address for what I have left for _Unlocked_ , and I hope to get more up soon.**

 **So, yeah. I now say it again: sorry for the long delay. And please, now enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

Chapter 12

Ralph

From the moment I have been programmed into the game, I knew I was Wreck-it Ralph, and I processed the power to wreck and destroy with my superhuman strength.

This means that for everything that passes my way, living or dead, moving or still, there is a great chance that I can inflect great damage to it, or that I can pick it up easily and flick it over my shoulder.

3-ton forklift? Easy.

Heavily padlocked door? No problem.

A towering building made of bricks and concrete? Well, I can't toss _that_ thing over my shoulder, but give me a few minutes of heavy pounding and smashing, and I'll demolish that building to nothing for you in no time.

Like I said, I am strong, _really_ strong; like there is almost nothing that I cannot lift or destroy with my own massive hands.

So why is this chest that I'm holding, only barely bigger than one of my fists with nothing stored in it, seem unbearably heavy? Not that I cannot carry, but I seem to use a lot of my strength in carrying it, which is ironic for a box this small.

Then when you think about it, not ironic at all…

For what I know for the time being, this chest, now empty, will soon be filled with something unbearable for me to hold, something that I don't want to put in, something that truly deserves more…

No, not something: some _one_.

Ralph Junior.

And I really don't want to do it.

I really don't want to lock my brother up again.

But at the moment, there really is no choice: RJ won't take 'no' as an answer, he is determined to put his plan into action, and no matter how Felix and I persuade, he is still keen on locking himself up again, no matter what blocks his path.

Take how we got this chest, for example.

Felix's apartment had crashed along with the rest of the building, so there is only my home to consider in finding a large enough chest for his plan. From the moment we got out of the crater and started towards East Niceland, I had refused to let RJ do the search again and again and again, telling him that he does not have the right to go into my property to search -and trash- my home for one useless chest. I even barred the entrance to my house by double locking it, and then standing in front of it, arms crossed, so that he doesn't get the slightest chance of entering. "If you wanna go in," I warned him "you'll have to get past me. And spoiler alert: I won't be letting even a tiny pixel past me into my house, let alone a full-grown adult character."

His response?

RJ just glanced up and down at me. "Fine." He mumbled, clearly dejected by my decision. He turned and walked away from me, as if to show that he'd given up. Then, when I least expected it, he turned and lowered his head. With a loud cry, RJ ran at the door, and me, at high speed, charging like a battering ram. I only had time to scream before RJ hit me, striking me fully in the chest with a powerful blow. I fall backwards on the door of my home, which, unable to cope with the weight, crashes inward into my living room, taking me and RJ with it.

 _CRASH!_ The loud noise echoed for miles around as I lie on the floor, the door broken to smithereens around us. RJ slowly peeled himself off me and surveyed my house, trying to look at anything. I let out a groan as I sit up, my backside hurting like mad. "When I refused to let you to do the search, it included not to break into my home. Which, you had just done." I spat at him, rolling my eyes as I did so.

"Hey, Ralph. I didn't break it, _you did_. I just helped you out a bit." RJ shot back at me and kept on his search.

By the time I got to my feet and fully recovered from my pain, I have discovered, to my horror, that RJ had somehow managed to wrestle and tear down every door and cupboard that I own, and is dumping contents from every chest he could find. While he was doing this, he was muttering _"No, this is too small, not enough. Nah, this one? Too complicated, cannot fit the locks on…"_ Chests of different sizes were spilled on the floor near him, and he kicked away its contents, trying to inspect the chests with the best detail he could offer.

For the next hour or so, every time Felix and I tried to creep toward him, RJ shot us a death glare and growled, as if annoyed by our presence. I tried to salvage some of my processions and chests from the mess RJ had created, but always I ended up empty-handed with red, heavily-slapped skin on my arms, in pain and clearly unsuccessful. It was clear that none of us would be able to go near RJ until he had finished his inspection.

RJ was determined indeed.

Finally, RJ looked up from his mess and held up a large chest, which used to hold all my candy trinkets and sparkly stuff I had collected with Vanellope over the months of adventuring in _Sugar Rush_. I felt codebroken seeing all my treasures spilled like trash all over the ground, unwanted. "This one will do." RJ called, walking to us. He shoved the chest to me, "here, hold it while I get some locks."

I glanced down at the chest in my hands. _'Is he kidding?!'_ I thought _'Giving me the chest to hold?! GOOD! Now when he's not looking, I can-'_

"AND DON'T YOU DARE WRECK IT!" I only had time to look up before being wrenched on the arm by RJ and dragged over the floorboards as RJ kept on his search. I tried to free my grip, but he only gripped back tighter, my arm hurting even more than ever. I yelled and kicked at him, but he didn't stop in his tracks.

At long last, RJ turned and with his free hand, opened the chest in my hands and dumped two sturdy locks into it—where did he find them? "Okay," he said to himself, releasing his grip on me "Ralph, now you go back to Felix, ask him if he can still find the entrance to the Code Room. I'll be out in a sec."

It was like RJ was suddenly in control of everything.

Then again, he was, in a way.

I walked out of the mess that used to be my home, trying not to crush and smash anything I find precious underneath my feet. I rejoined Felix followed by RJ moments later. "Okay guys, let's go."

With that said, RJ then literally pushes the two of us out of the doorway and into the alley that led up to the building remains.

And to this moment, while I am speaking this, he is still urging us to go to the Code Room. Every now and then, he turns and glances down at the chest in my hands, making sure that absolutely nothing happens to it. He never left his eyes off it, like a hawk to its prey; to the moment I believe that even if I leave just a tiny, unnoticeable dent on the chest, he'll swoop down at me, claws razor sharp, scarring me painfully over and over for my mistake.

There really is no stopping him…

…or is there?

"Hey, how much more to the Code Room?" RJ asks for the tenth time at Felix. I had told Felix not to tell him anything about the Code Room to RJ, but alas, he had overheard us and demanded Felix to answer, threatening to punch him so hard that he'll won't be able to regenerate.

Felix sighs and says "It's…in the back of the building, on the ground floor. I don't think if the doorway still remains after all of this, you know, with the building crashed and all, it may be gone with it. Oh, and you need to get in. No offence, but only few have access to it, and I don't know if I still have the key for the door…" I can see that like me, Felix is reluctant to help RJ with his plan as well. Hearing this, I let out a small mental cheer; surely, with the two of us, RJ won't stand a chance of locking himself back up. Two characters, with one having superhuman strength, would surely be stronger than one, both physically and mentally, right?

 _Right?_

RJ shrugs, "guess I'll have to tear another door down, then." He walks ahead of us.

 _Then again, maybe not._

I walk beside Felix, trying to make my footsteps as small as possible, trying to get to the Code Room in the slowest way possible. But I know for a fact no matter how slow I walk, no matter how many tiny steps that I take, there really is no escaping the fact I will reach the Code Room eventually, and there that I will have to face something that I really don't want to happen. I can stop myself, but I can't stop RJ, not now, and perhaps not ever. But I can't, I can't bear to see my brother being locked up again, returning to the place he never belonged…

I hear RJ scream in front of us and I see him, leaning on the few, remaining walls of the building while he glitches again. I can see tears gushing out his eyes in pain. I try to run to him, but suddenly the ground under me crashes down and a crater, one that doesn't seem to have a bottom, opens up under me. I try to run from the crater, but I am not fast enough; and before I know it, I am clinging for my life on the edge of the crater, its mouth stretched wide and attempting to swallow me whole. The chest has flown out of my hands, and I fling my arms over, clawing them into the ground above. The sides of the hole are slippery, covered in raw code, wetting myself and I gasp as one of hands slips free. I claw it into the ground again, trying to get myself back up, trying not to slip and disappear into the darkness that lurk below, trying to escape.

Now _I_ am the one screaming.

I am fumbling with my hands when someone tugs me on both hands, pulling me up. I don't even need to look up to know who pulled me up.

"RJ…" I start, but he cuts me off.

"Don't bother," he mutters, brushing his overalls and turning away from me.

 _"No, I demand this must be bothered!"_ I am saying things in such a hurry that I don't even realize what I really am saying. This might be the last time I may be able to stop him, the last time before he enters the Code Room. "You saved me twice, and maybe even more than that, which is something that not even real characters would do! With this, you don't deserve be locked up, RJ, _ever!_ "

RJ glances back at me, then coughs, as if not caring "I'm sorry, but that is not an excuse." He picks up the chest that went flying out of my hands earlier, hands it to me, then walks away to the side of one of the walls. He looks at them and with one punch, knocks down a wooden door located in the wall, surprisingly undamaged by the destruction that happened earlier. "Let's go." RJ beckons us.

I can't help but to cry out loud, fresh streams replacing the many, many tears I have already shed. _I had failed. I had failed to stop him._ With him entering the Code Room, it'll be only a matter of minutes before he is gone, his plan complete. Felix can't stop him, and neither can I. RJ's determination is stronger than the both of us combined, and we can do nothing to keep him in the game…

 _Wait._

I glance down at the chest still in my hands. RJ and Felix are just heading down the long staircase the led to the Code Room. Technically, no one is watching me at the moment. I glance down at the chest again.

 _Or can  I?_

* * *

"Wow…" RJ breaths, holding up one hand to brush the wires suspended above us. "This…this is amazing."

"I know, right?" I say back, throwing out both free hands to glide me through the shimmering web of coding. Electrical signals run above our heads through connecting wires, transporting information from one code box to another. Some boxes are as large as my fist, some so small that I can hold three in my hand at the same time. And all of them, oh, all of them are glowing, some with colors, some without, brightening up the dark space with all their pulsing light.

It is truly a sight to behold.

"Thank you for letting me be here, for letting me see this before I—RALPH, THE CHEST! WHERE IS IT?!"

"What chest?" I say, glancing over my side, trying to avert RJ's gaze. But he then glides over to me and with both hands, locks my head into an upright position and stares at me, his green eyes, practically glowing in the light of the boxes, boring into mine.

"Where is it?!" RJ asks again. I try to move my head, but RJ's grasp is firm. "Must have, uh…lost it." I say casually.

"LIAR." He clutches me tighter, his face riddled with anger, teeth blaring with hatred. "I kept a tight eye on it when we walked from your home to the Code Room. I saw you, and you still had it in your hands! WHERE IS IT?!"

I try to move, but I can't: RJ's grasp is too strong. Slowly and carefully, I work my hands up my sides curl them around RJ's wrists. He doesn't notice it yet, but he's bound to a few moments later.

"Where is the chest?!" RJ asks, frantic. As if he had an assumption in his mind, and is afraid to admit it.

"I WRECKED IT, OKAY?" I yell back, chucking the truth and RJ with my words and hands, sending him flying into two glowing boxes, the wires crackling with electricity on his impact.

"You WHAT?" He pulls himself up from the boxes, a look of disbelief on his face. "You wrecked the chest?!"

"YES!" I say back, surprised to feel salt on my lips, "I broke it up, when Felix and you were going down the staircase. That's why it took so long for me to come down. I had to do it, RJ, I have to!"

"But why?" RJ asks me, "why did you do this? WHY?"

"I don't want you to get locked up again! You know how terrible the conditions are in your locked state, right? Your body gone, your voice missing, and you're trapped in a dark, empty space for who-knows-how-long! You don't deserve this, RJ, just because of your glitch. I don't care if the world crashes down upon us or not, but I cannot lock you, my brother, up again!" I yell out.

"Ralph…" Felix calls out.

"I CANNOT LOSE YOU!" I cry, and with that last word, I collapse, broken, as everything inside me shatters into nothing.

For a while, the Room is quiet, amid the sound of my sobbing. I let the tears roll down my cheeks, as I break down, the unforgiving truth slamming me in the chest again and again and again. I wrap my arms around my body, unable to contain myself.

"I cannot lose you…" I repeat, but I know it is no use. RJ will find the broken chest in no time, and with Felix's hammer, the chest will be as good as well, and the terrible locking will condemn RJ's fate.

I look up, my eyes blotchy with tears, expecting RJ to tear right pass me, out of the Code Room to retrieve the broken pieces of the chest. And even if he does, I will not object. I am too tired to stop him; I am too burdened down to move…

I AM DONE.

In the corner of my eye, I see RJ whisper something to Felix, and then he glides over to me and wraps his large arms around me.

"I know how you feel, Ralph, I know." He says, "But I cannot run from the truth anymore. I know I'm going down, but I don't wanna drag you down with me. Please, just let me go." RJ clutches tighter, hugging me tighter. "I have experienced more than I asked for in the past few hours, and I am grateful for it."

I don't reply back, but just slowly throw my arms around him. My face is blotchy with tears, and I must be a total wreck; yet I simply breathe in and out slowly, savoring the moment.

This might be the last time that we're together as brothers.

"RJ? I found the chest, fixed it as well." Felix calls from behind, and I whip my head back. Felix is standing near the entrance, the chest fixed in his hands, and then floats towards us. I turn my head back to RJ, who glances at the chest with a solemn look, then back at me. And at that moment, I knew what I had to do.

I had to let RJ go.

"I know it's hard, but you really have to consider our game more than me. I'll be fine, Ralph, I'll be alright. Just…lock me up, and save the game."

"But…you'll be locked up, and then you're…you're…"I trailed off, recalling the horrifying conditions that RJ described to me earlier.

"Now that I saw what was out there, it won't be that lonely or scary anymore. Although I won't be able to speak, or retain my form, I'll remember all of this, I promise. But now…" RJ pulls back, releasing his arms from my body.

"Yeah, all right, all right." I take the chest from Felix's hands and float upwards, to where the characters' code boxes are located. Among all the various boxes and names, I finally find the one containing RJ's name. And even as I glided up to it, I can see it is still glitching and flickering, ripping our game over and over with his glitches.

He really can't control them.

"Just do it." I hear RJ say quietly behind me. And with that, I raise my hands and position the open chest beneath his code box. When I slam the lid down, RJ's code will be disconnected, he and his glitches will be gone from the game. I just need to do it…

It's such a simple act, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. No matter how hard I try to push the lid down, I can feel a stronger force pushing me back, forcing me to withdraw. It was like that I keep telling myself that I could do this, but deep down, I know I couldn't. And it is not because I don't have to strength to do so.

Despite crying from earlier, my tears kept pouring out as I try to close the lid, but I couldn't, I couldn't do it. I found myself clutching my fingers too tightly against the chest, leaving dents in the wood. But still the lid wouldn't close, it won't…

"I can't. I can't do it." I admitted, letting my head droop down, the chest rested limply in my palms. I sob loudly as I cry over my decision, that I can't bring myself to lock up RJ, that I can't bear myself to do this to save our game…

There was an awkward silence in the Code Room, apart from the tiny buzzes of electricity that RJ's code gave off when he glitched and my sobs. No one spoke anything for a while as they watch me broke down. Then very, very gingerly, RJ broke the silence.

"Very well, _then I'll do it._ "

I don't even hear him glide over to me, and feel the weight of the box disappear from my outstretched hands. I am too buried in my emotions that I don't seem to realize what was happening around me, I am deaf to the world, too burdened down with my feelings, with not enough strength to pull me back up.

The echoing _BOOM!_ makes my eyes snap open, and I look up, just in time to see RJ fastening the locks onto the closed chest. RJ turns back at me, and although I can see he too has been crying, his eyes sparkled with happiness and his smile radiant. And although I know it couldn't be possible, it looked like he was glowing, shining among the luminescent boxes around him.

Then he screams.

RJ begins to flicker wildly, his body breaking up into countless pixels, scattering and slowly disappearing into nothingness. He starts to tumble downwards, down into the depths of the Code Room. It took me a second to register what was happening and dive downward towards him.

"Hang on, RJ, I'm coming!" I reach out a hand, as if trying to grasp and hold onto what was left of RJ. I cannot let him leave, I cannot, I cannot!

RJ is nearly gone now, just parts of him remain visible, and even they are disintegrating quickly as I speak. He looks up and me, smiling, and faintly mouths two words out.

 _"Thank you."_

His eyes close, and with the rest of his remaining features break down into pixels, which glowed for a moment before disappearing, consumed by the darkness of the Code Room.

I have been too late.

"NO!" I yell, then I wrap my hands tightly around my body as I accepted the truth. "No…" I say again, then, unable to contain myself, I break down again.

RJ is gone, and I didn't stop him.

"Ralph, the game's stopped glitching." Felix's voice called faintly from far above "I'm gonna run the code to regenerate everything. You might feel a slight tingling, but it's all part of the process, but…Ralph? Brother? Can you hear me?"

I can hear him, but his voice seems distant, unclear. I am drowning again, this time in my emotions and tears, yet I am unwilling to surface, to save myself. I close myself out, regretting my decisions to lock RJ up, my delay in saving him, all my choices that I could have done to prevent this…

 _"Can you hear me?"_

Finally, with all my strength gone, I came to terms with my defeat, with RJ's fate.

 _I had failed._


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Alright, quick chapter here, just to let you know what is happening. :)**

* * *

Chapter 13

 _~4 days later_

Ralph

 _SPAT!_ I land on the mud puddle, face-first, after being thrown off the building; but for some reason, I don't want to pull myself up. For the past few days, it has been like this: I do my job as usual, yet it feels like I'm dragging myself through every game, nor do I feel myself doing anything at all.

It was if I didn't want to take one game at a time at all.

"All clear, the arcade's closed!" I hear Yuni's usual, perky voice signaling the end of the arcade's working hours. But still I lie on my face, as that that piece of information did nothing to the world for me.

"Brother, you okay?" I hear a voice call from above. I moan and roll over in the mud, forcing myself to sit up. I wipe the mud from my face and glance up, and surprise, surprise; Felix is there on the roof, pie in hand.

With a few giant leaps, Felix bounds down from the roof and lands next to me. "Here, have some pie. You look awful, brother." He observed, offering the pie.

"Nah, you save it for later. I'm not hungry." I wave my hand and turn my head to the other side, blinking back tears. No, Felix can't see me cry, he couldn't.

"Ralph. It is painfully obvious that something is up with you. You missed out on three straight Roaster Races, which, by the way, Vanellope is getting very annoyed about; skipped out the latest Bad-anon meeting, yeah they're quite worried about you; shut yourself up literally in our game; and to top it all off, closing yourself out even in our in-game gatherings."

"Look, I'm not, I'm not in the mood, okay? I just wanna…you know, be on my own for a while. Yeah." I mutter, hoping that Felix won't see the real reason why I behaved oddly like this lately.

He sees it.

"Is it because of…" He trails off, not saying the two letters aloud, yet we both know exactly what they stand for.

I sigh and turn back to him. "I don't know. I'm worried, I'm worried about RJ. And it feels like I should be glad that our game's fixed and far from being unplugged, and that our lives have returned to normal. I know, the Nicelanders are celebrating like everything never happened, and I don't blame them, considering we've just barely escaped being unplugged. But…yeah, I seriously can't stop thinking about him."

"Why?" He asked, and then quickly catches himself, "Sorry, stupid question."

"Never mind," I say, waving "I just want him to be okay, to be safe…but I'm afraid that, um…you know, he's not alright at all."

"What do you mean, 'he's not alright at all'?" Felix asks, curious, "Are you saying that there's more to the lockage than simply closing a chest over their code boxes?"

" _Way_ more than you know, Felix." I say slowly, "You mean, RJ never told you about it?"

He shakes his head. So I spent a few minutes recalling everything RJ told me about his lockage to Felix. After I finished, I saw his eyes go wide and the color drained from his face. "You've got to be kidding me, Ralph. Is it really true that the conditions of being locked up are _that_ terrible?"

I nod. "I thought he was faking it for my sympathy, but he looked terrified while describing it, to the point I thought he was comparing his lockage to an actual death. I still can't believe he made that choice to go back to that place to save our game, even it meant giving himself up, giving away his freedom." I sigh, "I want to imagine that after being locked up again, RJ's in a far better place than the rest of us are now, that he's happier and freer; but I know I'm lying to myself, 'cause he's not."

I look down, head drooped. "Wish I can do something to help, to help free RJ, to give him what he truly deserves…"

As I am swimming in my thoughts, I hear Felix mutter something under his breath. "Actually, there _is_ a way…"

"What?!" I cry, leaping up to my feet, startling Felix. "you mean there is actually a way to fix RJ and you haven't told me?! Tell me, Felix; what is the solution?"

Felix jerks a bit, his actions a bit unnatural. "It's…it's to go and tear out the glitchy bits of the clone's code before they fully reconnect to the mains, and then give them a good ol' reboot afterwards. Sure, the clone might not be completely whole, but the reboot helps speed up the healing process. At least, that's what we'd assume back then. I remember once another clone was let out, and some characters who were concerned about her called me, along with a few others, for help. After all, I got my Magic Hammer, helps fix things and all…"

"Wait…so you actually know a solution to cure RJ _and_ you've been through the process yourself, why didn't you tell me? Why did you just stood there on the side, watching RJ lose himself while you can actually do something about it?!" My voice raises, and I feel my temper bubbling, angry at Felix for his ignorance four days ago in the Code Room.

Felix bit his lip "I…I don't want to do it. I don't want to risk it…"

"Risk what? Your Hammer, your fame?" I huff "Stupid excuse to say when you have no connection with the clone…"

" _Ralph!"_ Felix cries.

"WHAT?!" I yell back, aghast at his refusal.

Felix lowers his head, "The clone _died_. You know that, Ralph?" He pauses, and then continues, "We told her about the risks, telling her that she might risk a permanent game-over if the process goes wrong. Still, she was determined to go through the process, for some reason… However, we were barely halfway through the process when she started screaming, glitching, and breaking up; similar to what RJ went through, only it was much, much more extreme. We tried everything to save her, but she was breaking up too fast, we couldn't piece her remaining code into something sustainable. It was too late; she was gone before we could do anything else…"

"Since then, all operations regarding freeing clones have been halted, and this issue was never brought up again: we'd let it fade away. But still, some nights, I would think about that character, about that clone, who'd rather risk giving up her life than to face storage again. I never understood why she thought that was a good idea…until now, brother."

Felix turns away from me "No wonder they don't wanna go back; they'd rather risk a permanent game-over rather than go back. If only I knew how terrible their locked-up conditions are…If only…" He mutters.

As I see Felix look away from me, I realize how little I knew about the whole situation. Of course, Felix won't go and help free RJ; he knew the risks, he knew RJ might suffer a permanent game-over, a fate much worse than being locked up. He also knew RJ wouldn't want to force Felix to find him a possible cure for his glitch, that it would mean to the others that he's not willing to leave, not willing to pay for his mistakes.

My mind recalls to the fight we'd had after our building crashed, how I called RJ a 'selfish scoundrel', a character whose only propose was to destroy our game. Little did I know he'd take these insults very literally, enough for him to build up the courage to admit his mistakes and face his terrible fate. Thinking about him, I can't help but to remember him with awe, with a sort of respect that I can never repay…

But…although risky, it's a solution nonetheless…right?

"I think…" I say slowly to Felix, letting the words roll slowly out "I think we should go and try it. It'll be risky, but I'll be willing to take that-"

"I know you'll be willing either way, _but is RJ willing?_ " Felix cuts me off.

I pause in my tracks; Felix is right. Even I said I'll be willing to take the risks, my code won't be the one being torn out in the process, my code won't be the one bearing all the pain, facing the risk of being deleted. All while I'm predicting that he'll survive and be alright. Compared with what RJ had done to save our game, my decision seemed unbearably selfish, neglecting all other variables in order to free him again. And with that, even _he_ won't approve me for doing this…

Besides, given that Felix's the one with the Magic Hammer, I'll definitely be the one who will be tearing out the glitchy bits in RJ's code; his fate is literally in my hands. One little mistake could end up with RJ dying, and it would be my entire fault that he's dead. And hearing what Felix said…I'm afraid that he just won't survive this, he won't survive my wrecking on his code, and then he'll never even have the _chance_ of getting his freedom back…

The urge inside me is so great, it sickens me. But somehow I know if I really do go and put this plan into action, RJ might not come back alive.

"But…there's no harm in trying, right?" Felix pipes up. I jerk my head, surprised that he said something like that, suddenly swapping sides, suddenly thinking that RJ might have a chance of survival. "I mean…don't want to be selfish, I think if we're careful enough, RJ might not have to suffer that much before he's rebooted, right?" He looks away again.

Oh, so Felix also wanted to free RJ using this method as well, but he's not certain about the results. And frankly, I can't blame him, especially when there's death involved. No one likes to talk about death, and no one wants to cause it either. "Just…forget it." I say, starting to push the thought out of my head.

But…I just can't think of playful, spirited RJ being locked up forever in eternal loneliness forever…

"RJ's a fighter." I finally say, "And a pretty feisty one too. He won't go down without a fight, especially one for his life. He won't give in, even if he's not in charge of everything happening at the time."

Felix cocks his head "Does that mean you're saying we should try and free him?" He grips his hammer tighter.

I nod. "Let's go save him." I say, and these words we get up from the mud puddle, and head down to the Code Room once more.

" _We're getting you out of there, brother, just hang in there…"_

* * *

 **A/N: So, Operation 'Get RJ out of lockage' is officially launched. I mean, what could go wrong?!**

 ***Coughs* _Everything..._**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: It took me 3 days to finish something that took me _weeks_ to complete before...**

 **Just to show how much one can do if they're bored enough. XD**

 **Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for: the great rescue mission. Will they pull it off? Well, you'll have to read to find out. :)**

 **Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Chapter 14

Ralph

When we got down to the Code Room, I find myself breathing in and out rapidly, and my code is buzzing wildly like I just done a full-blown workout. I put an oversized finger to my chest, trying to calm myself down, only I somehow got more and more nervous as I did so. On the one hand, if things go smoothly, we could bust RJ out of lockage quickly before he could suffer any possible damages; while on the other hand, if I make the tiniest mistake, well…

I could find myself holding a dead character in my hands.

And I would be totally responsible for it.

"Calm down, brother, he'll be alright." Felix reassures me, but even I can tell he is nervous, and really, I can't blame him.

"So, get him out of the chest, tap it open, tear out anything I find glitchy or connected to the main code, tap it back shut, fix it to the mains, and give it a reboot. Did I miss anything?" I ask as we are floating towards the main code, towards the shining, glowing boxes.

Felix shakes his head, "Nothing, other than the fact that you'll only be doing the tearing part: I'll fix and reboot RJ."

"Oh, and one more thing." I stop in my tracks, concerned with what I'm about to ask next. "That clone you mentioned earlier, the girl; was she glitching wildly like RJ did?"

Felix also stops. "Well…I was only called to fix her code, so I didn't know much about the specifics; they didn't tell me. I _did_ know for a fact that she was out in the open for way fewer hours than RJ did, so the destruction might not be to its full extent. Nevertheless, judging by her appearance, I could definitely say that she was indeed a glitch, and that she was glitching not as intense as RJ did."

"Oh God, now I can't help thinking that we're making a terrible mistake. Even with a clone that didn't glitch as much as RJ did, she didn't survive the ordeal. What if RJ broke up immediately after being unlocked, or that my first tear would shatter him? What if…" I feel sweat forming on my forehead, code buzzing more intensely than ever. I start to turn to exit the Code Room, but then RJ…

"Don't' worry too much, maybe he'll be fine." Felix reassures me again.

"God, if I could be as optimistic as you…" I mutter back.

Soon, we reach the character code boxes, and sure enough, the chest-and RJ's code box inside it-are still there. I look over at Felix. "Are we sure we're doing this? Seriously, have we thought this through? I mean, there's tons that could go wrong…"

Felix glides up next to me. "Ralph, I know you're freaking out, but you need to calm down. It's not easy, but I believe I'm ready for whatever happens next, RJ too. We're just waiting for you."

I take a deep breath, then raise one fist directly over the chest, preparing to bring in down sharply. "Okay." I breathe in and out again, trying to calm myself down.

 _Three…two…one…NOW!_

I let my fist fall and land on the chest, shattering it into a million flecks of wood.

RJ

I glance around at the room again. It is the same as when I left it: grey, windowless, sealed shut and blank. Obviously it is not a good place to be in, but hey! At least it does a good job of keeping unwanted things out.

At least now I'm not a threat to anybody.

I let my pixels slide on the floor, spilled out completely to the far corners of the room. When I entered lockage, I felt myself fall and shatter, and the Grey Lockage Cube, with the lid unfolded like a box, rush up to greet me. My pixels all tumbled into the cube and when they hit the floor silently the lid closed up with a satisfying _boom_.

I, too, was satisfied and relieved with myself when I lay unmoving on the floor, recalling how I plucked up the courage to stand up for my mistakes, my lies; and face the fear of being locked up again. Sure, it still terrifies me, but I've overcome it, and I embraced it entirely.

As I lie down, I find myself remembering everything that happened after I was unlocked, how I saw my appearance for the first time, how I was shown around the game, how I tasted the chocolate and cherry that Ralph and Vanellope gave me, how I watched Ralph enter gameplay for my one and only time…

How I deceived.

How I neglected.

 _How I lied_.

My heart aches for more time, more days of freedom, but I push the thoughts back down sharply. I was never meant to be unlocked, not now, not ever. Being out a few hours is already a luxury to me, and I had gotten more than I bargained for. Sure, I would love to stay, but for what cost? Being a clone, I am forced to say when the game goes down, but for the others? Should they suffer because of my selfishness? Should they be forced to leave their home?

The answer is simple: NO.

No one should be forced to leave because of one person's actions; no one deserves to have their right taken away from them. No one should have to right to control others' fate because of their selfishness…

With this thought, I shatter myself completely on the floor, satisfied with my answer.

 _I am never going back out again._

I should have known better.

As at that exact moment, the space around me lurched, and my pixels slam into one another, collapsing. Then they change direction as the cube rolls sideways, and I find my pixels tumbling on top of one another. "Ow…"I mutter, uncomfortable at the jolting of my pixels.

That's when I realize it.

My voice is back.

Does that mean…?

Before my very eyes, I can see my pixels transforming myself into my true form, starting from my chest. I glance around, horrified to see that all my pixels have been condensed to a single spot in the cube, preparing for my unlocking.

 _NO!_

 _YOU PROMISED!_

But there's nothing to stop myself from changing. Frantic, I try to roll away from my still-forming pixels, trying to get away from them, but they stick to me like glue, fusing themselves to me. The cube keeps on lurching the whole time, and I see visible cracks running down on the sides. Soon they'll split open and I'll be released again, connected to the game once more.

And I'll become an unstoppable threat again.

As I am thinking this, I feel a small tingle and I look down at my still-forming chest, and I am surprised to see it glowing. It is a tiny spark, but it glows intensely, and slowly but surely, it seems to be spreading.

The tingle is spreading too, and has started to become stronger, and stronger. I gasp and jerk back sharply as the tingle has now risen to become pain, unmistakable pain, throbbing at my chest. I press myself against the wall, hoping that it would ease my pain, take it away from me. But it is no use, the pain is still there, and it has now gone up to a point where I find myself, despite the cube rolling back and forth, glued to the floor, gasping and squealing as my chest explodes with pain.

The spark on my chest has now become a fire, green and glowing and terrible, burning me alive, tearing my code with tongues of pixelated flame. I feel tears come of my already-formed eyes, the pain unbearable and intense, I try to escape, rolling around, save myself, but I find myself unable to move, my gaze fixated on the terrible flame that is slowly killing me.

I do the one and only thing that I can still do.

 _Scream._

Ralph

"Good work, brother, you're doing great!" Felix cheers me on, but I don't take it seriously. I continue to keep my focus on the code before me, tearing one icon out after the other, disconnecting wire after wire. With every disconnection I make, Felix swoops down and taps his hammer on that particular area, repairing it. Every step is a race against time: if I'm not fast enough, the particular mistake in RJ's code will be forever implanted in him, causing him to stay a clone, never to leave the game, never becoming normal…

It is hard work, but I promise myself that the reward will be worth it. With that said, I continue to remove bits and parts of RJ's code, breaking the 'broken' pieces of code away and chucking them down into the dark oblivion below, where they'll never reach RJ's code again. Once torn out, every single one of the glowing icons and wires loses its shine and color, and start to disintegrate in my hands, forming into nothingness.

At least now RJ won't even have the chance of getting those broken pieces of code back.

Just out of the corner of my eye, I see another icon flickering, and I automatically reach out a hand to tear it away, when suddenly-

" _Oh God, brother! What is_ _that_ _?!"_

I hear the alarm in Felix's voice, but still I reach for the icon. "Not now, Felix. I need to tear this away before-"

" _RALPH, JUST LOOK!"_ Felix screams, grasping my shoulder tightly, digging his fingers into my skin. That's when I fully snap out of what I'm doing and look to where Felix is pointing.

When I see it, I draw in a tight breath.

For a portion of RJ's code is staring to glow, and not in a good way. A few of the icons in that area are starting to flicker and glitch, and worse of all, I can see it is slowly spreading. I put a finger onto the icons located next to that particular portion, hoping to block them from the spreading glitch…

" _YEEEEEOOOOOW!"_ I scream, jerking my finger back. As I look at it, my finger has now become a mass of red pixels, glitching and sputtering with electricity. I stare at it for a few moments, before Felix taps his hammer a few times against it and it returns to normal

I put my fingertip into my mouth, sucking it as I look again at the glowing code, which has indeed now spread onto the other icons. My eyes widen as more parts of RJ's code are affected, glowing and glitching. Felix goes over to me and literally throws his hammer onto the affected area of the coding, where we see it glitch and flicker in a sparkling mass of yellow pixels before reforming itself and being spit out from RJ's code. Felix dives down to catch his still-flickering hammer before it falls into the darkness below.

As he grips his hammer tighter, he shoots me a worried look, and I return his nervous glance.

 _Something is very wrong. Very, very wrong._

"You go and stand on the side, Ralph. I'll try and fix this." Felix glides towards RJ's code and frantically tries to reconnect and fix the spreading glitch. Meanwhile I stand on the side watching, and then put one hand over my face, peeking through my fingertips, praying that he'll be able to pull this off.

But as I watched, the code always seems to be faster than Felix by a bit, for every time Felix manages to fix some parts of it, another part starts to flicker. And as I watch Felix darting to and fro, trying to repair everything, I can't help but feel that I'd made a terrible, terrible mistake.

I'd might as well have killed RJ already.

I close my hand over my face entirely, closing myself from Felix and the Code Room, trying not to think that is happening to RJ. Because although I can't see what he is currently going through, I have a sinking feeling that he'll going through hell-like conditions…

And I am the cause of blame.

 _My God, what have I done?_

RJ

 _Pain, pain, pain_.

I gasp and try to turn my body, but the fire keeps on burning, the temperature slowly rising higher and higher inside me. I feel the flames spreading, passing to other parts of my body, licking up my skin and clothes.

I cry until my tears ran out, but continue to scream even when my voice becomes hoarse. I desperately want to stop, but I can't control it; the fire is so painful that I keep on yelling, my voice becoming one like that from a strangled animal.

 _Is this what dying feels like?_

As I am burdened in my pain, I don't realize that the cube has somehow stopped lurching. My back is still glued to the floor, and my body is still burning and glowing. But I few seconds later, I realize that more changes are happening as I feel my body being lifted from the floor, to halfway up the cube. My arms flailed, alarmed, as I simply don't know what is happening to me. I'm not being unlocked, but I'm not breaking back up either, and my body still hurts like crazy.

So…what's happening?

As I am lying in midair, I feel my body tilt itself slowly, until I am 'standing' in a sorta upright position. It is definitely uncomfortable, and I try to straighten my back, despite all the pain.

My back doesn't budge.

I try again, and still it doesn't move a bit. It is like that I'm pushing myself against a brick wall. By now, I have a terrible theory of what is happening to me, but I need to prove if it is true. Carefully, I turn my focus to my right hand, and try to open and close my palm. Easy action, right?

My palm stays outstretched; I cannot close it.

So it is true: I have now lost control on my body, simply lying limply in an upright position as my fire consumes me. I feel another pain on my limbs, and even if I cannot see it, I can feel my body dissolving once more into pixels. I let out an internal sigh of relief, since I know my code will be back to normal after I completely become pixels.

 _Stupid, stupid RJ; why won't you ever learn?!_

I gasp suddenly, as my neck starts to stoop down, taking my head with it. My arms crisscrossed and fixed themselves to my chest, while my legs start to jerk upward. I don't know what is happening to me, I'm completely terrified!

My scream gets cut off abruptly as my throat closes in on itself, and my head has bent to impossible angles, resting on my crossed arms. I yell soundlessly, as the flames lick my face and arms, now transforming back into pixels. Meanwhile my legs somehow find themselves over my head and just touching my back. So now I've been forcefully scrunched up into a ball with a crazy, impossible pose while I dissolve.

As I am dissolving back into pixels, I feel that I'm crushing under the pain, that I won't be able to handle much longer. My code has gone completely haywire, totally out of my control, impossible to sustain. My vision has started to blur around the edges, and I start to nod off into unconscious.

 _This is it, this is really it: I am going to die. For good reason too._

As the darkness slowly inches towards the center of my vision, I start to pull up my memories of Ralph, Felix and all the others, saying farewell for each of them in turn.

 _Felix…thank you for not busting me out so quickly, so directly to everyone…_

 _Vanellope…you cheeky little thing. Even if you appeared in just a few moments of my life, you'll be a hard one to forget…_

 _All you pint-sized Nicelanders... Yeah, we didn't go along well, but thanks for letting me stay here for the time being…_

 _And you, Ralph, my original…Sorry I forced you to take me under your wing: you never asked for a clone. Oh well, thanks for everything. You gave me more than I'd ever asked for, and I will treasure our memories forev-sorry, for the remaining moments that I got. I'm dying anyway._

 _I love you all, really. I'm just glad that you'll finally be better off without me._

Just as I finished thinking these farewell thoughts, my vision has completely blurred up, and I am plunged into darkness, forever closed off from everything I love.

And then I-

I-

…

…

Ralph

" _RALPH! HELP ME!"_

I brush my hand from my face and glance at Felix, currently trying to hold the icons and wires of RJ's code together. Felix yells my name again, and without a second doubt I launch myself at him, nearly knocking him and RJ's code box over.

Felix is sweating, his shirt slicked to his back. His hair has become messy under his cap, and I can tell he is extremely tired. "Ralph, the code's falling apart. I don't know what is happening, but I'm gonna go for the reboot. Maybe it can stabilize everything, but who knows? Unfortunately, RJ's code has begun to scatter, and I need you to help get it back together."

Halfway through his last sentence, I have reached out both hands and clamped them around RJ's sparkling mass of code. As I am squeezing them, forming them to clump together, I can feel it fighting to escape, to get out, to disappear. But I hold on with all my might, never letting go.

" _THIS IS FOR YOU, RALPH JUNIOR!"_ I yell, encouraging myself to overcome the growing pain of my hands from trapping the icons that made up RJ. The electricity stung, leaving physical wounds behind on my palms and fingers, but I force myself to hold on.

"Alright, Ralph. Listen carefully, for RJ's code is now in a very critical condition. We only got one shot: if this goes wrong, I'm afraid we'll lose RJ forever, so I need you to do exactly what I'm about to say next."

I turn my head back, and I see Felix holding up a digital touchpad behind me. His expression was serious, and I can tell why. I nod, telling him that I will follow his orders.

We can't afford to lose more of RJ now.

"On the count of three, I'm gonna throw my hammer against RJ's code and type in a command on this pad that will force him to reboot. The hammer might not do much, but as you saw earlier, it acts as a slight delay for the code, which is just enough time for me to input my code for the reboot. So when I get to three, I want you to release your hands and chuck yourself away from his code box as far as you can; for since you are RJ's original, you might be affected as well. Timing is everything: if I tapped the command too slowly, the code won't reboot; and if you're too close to me, _you_ might be the one getting the reboot. So, on three, get away quickly, and I'll see it I can save what is left of RJ."

I nod again, giving RJ's code a few final squeezes before the reboot hopefully takes place.

"On the count of three now. One…"

I loosen my grip on the coding.

"Two…"

I prepare to jump away from RJ's code as Felix carefully positions himself behind me.

"THREE! GO NOW!"

I leap away and make a mad dash to one of the walls of the Code Room, just as the hammer, golden and gleaming, whizzes past me and embeds itself in RJ's code. Like the last time, the hammer flickers wildly, but instead of simply watching it, Felix is now typing rapidly onto his pad, his fingers dancing across the screen. By now, I've reached the wall and put a hand against it, breathing deeply.

RJ's code sputters and flickers, and even from such a distance, I can see it is currently trying to get rid of Felix's hammer, and it will not be long until the hammer falls and Felix's time has run out.

With a final glitch, the hammer has been pushed out of RJ's code and started to fall, just as Felix slams his hand on his pad. Immediately, RJ's code sputters and flickers dark, its icons blinking out one by one as I see, until it has completely blackened. Even from a distance, I can feel the code for the reboot churning deeply in my code, not enough to affect me, but definitely enough to feel it. Seeing the hammer fall quickly, I dive toward it, barely able to catch it before it disappears forever.

Felix rests his head on his pad, exhausted as I return the hammer to him. "You got it?" I ask.

He nods. "Just in time." We turn our heads back to RJ's code, and see that very, very slowly, his icons light up again, starting from the center, spreading to the sides. I might have imagined it, but I thought I saw a few traces of random glitches here and there, but I shake my head, shaking my thoughts away. Finally, after a long time, RJ's code condenses itself into a code box floating in front of us, healthy and repaired, connected without danger.

Felix looks up at me with pride, beaming. "We did it."

"Yeah, I got RJ back. But what happened to him the whole time? I don't know…" I mutter; my face still deeply worried.

Just then, the door to the Code Room bursts open, and Gene rushes in. "Felix! Felix! The game-AHHHHHHHH!" He screams as he starts to tumble down. Without thinking, I glide over and catch him with one huge hand before it is too late.

"Thank you for nothing, you useless Bad Guy." Gene scowls at me, beady eyes boring into mine.

"None taken, jerk." I shoot back. I bring us back to where Felix is, and very carefully, lift Gene into the air suspended with the two of us.

"Gene, what's the matter? Why in such a hurry?" Felix asks.

"Long…long story short." Gene says back. "We were partying as usual when we felt the earthquakes again, only this time they came in strong from the start and the building started shaking. It was like what happened when that clone-"

"He has a _name_." I interrupt.

"Right, right; when _RJ_ was glitching back in our game. Some of us knew right away that something was going on with the code, but none of us are able to go down there because of all the shaking. Eventually it stopped, so I came down here. Mayor's responsibility, you know. So now the game's completely ruined, so-"

"Fine, I'll do a complete reboot on the game. Hold tight." Felix starts tapping on his pad again, this time it took significantly longer than the last. When he finished, I feel dizzy, as if someone has rolled me on my side and flipped me over. Lines consisted of random letters and numbers jumbled together rolled in front of my vision, and kept on appearing even when I tried to blink them away. I sway and slam upon a stray code box, blocking me from rolling any further.

When the dizziness stops, I am surprised to see that both Gene and Felix are resting against the code boxes too, and are now shaking their heads slowly as of to clear their minds. "Think that did the trick, shall we go see?" Felix asks.

We nod and follow Felix back out of the Code Room, and I might had imagined it, but RJ's code seems to be flickering slightly again, but again I shake it off. When we walk out into the cool night air, I see the Nicelanders, minus Gene, standing together in a circle, whispering to each other. But what surprises us is that they're not looking at us at all…

"Hey, what's up?" I call.

Some of the Nicelanders shake at my voice, then very, very slowly, some of them part open their circle, and we can see that they were apparently surrounding something laying down on the ground, unconscious.

When I saw what that thing is, I draw in a very deep breath.

" _RJ."_ I call out.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Oooh...so turns out the rescue operation did not turn out as good as they planned. What have they done to RJ now?**

 **Read on, my friends. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Chapter 15

Ralph

RJ is unrecognizable.

Sure, he still retained his human form. Sure, even when he is lying on his side, I can see a few features that separated him out from everyone else in the game. His hair is still same as mine, complete with the two floppy strands that landed on his forehead; his hands are still blocky shaped, lying limply on the ground; and although his eyes are closed, I can be certain that when they open they'll be a bright and brilliant green, sparkling with wonder.

But the similarities stop there. Even from a distance, I can see RJ is far smaller, and younger, than what he'd looked a few days ago. His clothes, now far too big for his smaller frame, hang loosely on his now-human-sized body. The clothes, particularly his shirt, were ripped open and blacked, as if RJ's been caught in a fire and somehow got burnt. His hands, although blocky, have now become normal sized; in fact, he's lost my 'wrecker arms' as well. His chin and nose has been sharpened off, and a wild burst of freckles has exploded over his face.

RJ lies unmoving, even as Felix and I approach him. Nicelanders whisper furiously as I stoop down and use an oversized finger to gently tap his side, trying to rouse him. But RJ still doesn't stir.

" _RJ!"_ I whisper _"Hey! Wake up!"_

RJ doesn't move.

I tap his side again, to the point I accidently roll him over a bit. Yet, RJ simply flops over, not resisting my push at all. I jerk back, can't believe what I am seeing, can't believe that my worst fear had come true. I turn away from everyone else, trying not to let anyone see me crying.

 _RJ…RJ is dead. And I…_

"Ralph? I hear buzzing. RJ's still alive."

I snap out of my thoughts, quickly wiping the tears from my eyes, and glance over at Felix. While I've been sulking, Felix has quietly crept down near RJ and checked for a buzzing of electricity running in his code that indicated a person's condition. And now, according to Felix, RJ still has electricity in him, he is still alive…for now. I lean and rest my head on RJ's chest, and sure enough, a faint but definite hum of electricity ran from deep within him, and although he doesn't respond, I can tell that he is still alive.

I breathe out a huge sigh of relief, and then very carefully, I slide my hands under RJ's body and lifted him up, cradling him in my arms. Felix bounds over and taps his hammer against RJ's side, and while I can see the hammer's effect run up quickly through him, RJ is still not moving.

"He seems to be some sort of trance, in some conditions that my hammer can't heal…" Felix mutters.

Just then, RJ jerks in my hands, and I look down instinctively, eager to see him rub his eyes and sit up. But no; for some reason, RJ has not awakened. Another unnatural jerk from him shatters my hopes: RJ is still glitching, and those glitches are causing him to twitch and jerk.

So much for being hopeful.

"He's sorta in a coma, that's why he hasn't woken up." Felix says, observing.

Now I start to panic; I heard that characters with codes broken to a certain degree could enter comas and possibly never wake up again. I shift his body into a more comfortable posture…

And scream.

"RALPH! YOU OKAY, BROTHER?!" Felix runs over to me, concerned. My hand has briefly flared up into red pixels, as if triggered by a random glitch or something…

Wait a minute.

I gently lift up his right overall pant leg, for I'm sure that part rested on my hand earlier when I changed his posture.

And when I see it, I suck in a tight breath.

For his right foot is glowing, and not in a good way. It's a small spark, but green and brilliant, flaring up like flame. And I might have imagined it, but I think it's spreading slowly, inching up his foot and onto his leg.

"We…we gotta do something!" I get out "I don't know what to do with RJ! We need more help!"

Gene, rolling his eyes, steps up to us. "Now I don't really care about RJ." He scoffs "Yeah, I don't think we need any more wreckers in our game, we got one big oaf and that already causes up a lot of unwanted trouble…"

I roll my eyes back at him. Yeah, typical Gene, never truly understanding how important my role is to our game. I could have punched him at that moment, but I held my hand down, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"But…if I were you, I would go straight downtown to the hospital; RJ needs medical attention. It's not that hard to find, you'll know it when you see it, but since you never actually got hurt before I don't think you can find it straight away…"

"Great, thanks." I reply. I know Gene is taunting me again, but I don't care: RJ is my main concern right now. If there's really is a solution, I'll gladly take it, no matter who suggested it to me.

RJ glitches once again in my hands, and with that I run towards the direction of the said hospital as fast as my legs can take me.

* * *

I glance nervously at RJ's stats on the machines, and then back at RJ. For the entire time he's here, RJ never opened his eyes, and I am more and more worried that he may never wake up again.

Since this is the only hospital among our side of the consoles, by the time we arrived the hospital was already packed with characters from here and from nearby games, all waiting for a doctor to come and offer medical attention. We were supposed to be waiting in line with the others, but once Felix and I told the receptionist about RJ's condition, we were immediately escorted to a bed and a doctor in waiting.

"You think he'll be alright?" I ask the doctor in charge of RJ.

The doctor, a young fellow who looked nothing like the Nicelanders in our building: I think he was a survivor of an unplugged game who volunteered to build a hospital with some other characters in our game, looks down at his charts, then turns to us.

"How long has he been this way?" He asks in a solemn tone.

"A…while ago, I think?" I recall. "I mean, he was unlocked just now."

"Wait, _again?!_ " The doctor asks, surprised. "So, this particular clone somehow gets rereleased right after its lockage? And somehow manages to survive? I mean…that's a first."

Right after hearing this, both Felix and I are and stunned. "How…how did you know?!" I sputter.

"Please, as the first clone that has been unlocked in recent years, RJ sure spun up a lot of news and gossip among the community. Heck! Everyone has been discussing about it now and then, you just didn't realize it."

I roll my eyes, annoyed that news about RJ had been out. "Just wanted this to be a quiet piece of gossip among those of us in our game…" I mutter.

The doctor turns his attention back to RJ. "He's in a coma, but I believe you know that already. I have given him a number of electric shocks, and he's reacted positively to them. I'll continue to do this to him, and I expect him to heal in the coming days to come."

"But will he make a full recovery?" I ask.

"By full recovery, do you mean that RJ will feel better, or do you mean…will he retain everything in his code?"

"Now here's something interesting." The doctor flips over a page on his clipboard and peers at the writing on it closely. "Right after we ran some tests, we realized that RJ had changed a lot from what we heard about him when he was first unlocked. Well, physically, we can all see he changed a lot, but a test confirmed that he indeed lost most of the original Wrecker coding copied from you, Ralph." He says, addressing me. "He lost his superhuman strength and wrecker fists, but personal opinion; I believe he'll be able to make a hell-lota damage even without them." He smiles a bit, then looks down at his clipboard again.

"We also found changes in him that cannot be seen via appearance alone." The doctor flips another page. "For example, his handedness has switched from right to left; he might have developed a slight accent… Oh! And also this: he has now become a forever and complete glitch."

"WHAT?!" Both Felix and I scream, starling the nearby doctors and patients. I give them an apologetic look, then turn back to the doctor. "A forever glitch? What do you mean by that?"

"Tests indicate a very unstable code within RJ, and apparently this is an irreversible damage. There is severe code loss from his core, and while it could grow back in a matter of weeks, the code will still be unstable, since it is different from the code RJ started with. Interestingly, we found physical traces of abuse on the core, which makes me wonder what happened to RJ before he came in here…"

"I…I tore out his code." I whisper just above my breath. "I…I tried to…remove the glitchy parts of his code…and fix up the broken areas, and then give him a complete reboot, so that…he'll become a normal character…"

"WHERE ON EARTH DID YOU HEAR _THAT_ FROM? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? !" This time it was the doctor shouting. After getting glares from all around the room, the doctor whispers in a hushed voice. "Like, why would you try to remove his glitch by tearing his code out?! You could have potentially killed him!"

"Isn't…isn't that the way to do it?" I peep, slightly taken back by his outburst.

The doctor shakes his head wildly while pacing around the bed "That's a misconception. After the rescue failure many years back I thought you would understand! You're not saving the clone, guys, _you're further damaging him!_ The right way to 'cure' a clone is yes, to remove the glitchy parts of him away, but only _when you have found enough replacements to fill up the broken gaps,_ like fitting pieces into an almost-finished puzzle. And then watch him slowly get used to these new pieces of coding, not give him a reboot."

"But…but that would take _ages_! Where would we find that much unused coding lying around for RJ to heal?" I ask, holding out my hands for emphasis.

The doctor shakes his head again. "I know, I know. Unused coding really is hard to come by, so hard that in fact it takes at least _months_ , or even _years_ , before we actually start to remove the glitchy parts and piece in the replacements. But at least the clone actually gets 'cured' and becomes a normal character, despite all the different components in his or her code. With RJ here, though…"

The machine next to us beeps, and Felix and I jerk back. The doctor, however, calmly walks over to the machine and puts a cylinder, crackling with electricity, into it. Through the thin tubes connected to RJ, I can see electricity running down them and into RJ, pulsing across in the form of minor glitches. "Just time for another dose of electricity: he reacts really good to them. Oh, where was I…oh yeah."

"As you can see, RJ is still glitching, meaning that he is not quite a 'normal' character. However…the system didn't detect any mistakes in him, which is kinda strange. I mean, the system regarded him as 'normal', but he was glitching the entire time while we ran the tests. Believe me: we ran the tests two more times, but still, no 'abnormally' response in the system. Which…leads us to a conclusion."

The doctor breathes in sharply, then lets it out very slowly, and finishes his sentence.

"RJ has now become an unstoppable glitch, trapped between 'normal' and 'flawed', damaged beyond repair, undetected by the system. The game will no longer see him as one, though, which means he could leave anytime he liked. But the system no longer regards him as a glitch, and will not stop him. His code will simply continue to become unstable, as the game no longer recognizes him as a mistake and find a way to cure it."

"So he's will be a glitch forever, yet still be able to leave our game. That's not too bad, actually." I say, trying to lift my spirits. I have a feeling that by the tone the doctor described RJ's current condition, being a complete, unstoppable glitch is not a good thing. I smile, masking my worry over the whole situation.

The doctor shoots me a funny look. "Need to have your code checked, mister? 'Being a complete glitch' is not a bad thing?! Are you serious?! Yep, I heard what happened with Vanellope after her game got a reset; she was able to glitch _and_ leave her game. But I'm afraid the situation for RJ here is much, much more critical. Having such an unstable code will have dangerous and unexpected effects on the character himself. Oh, and that's actually the second thing I want to address to you guys. And it's quite important."

The doctor lifts the blanket up slightly from the end of the bed, and we can see RJ's right foot is now completely glowing, flaring up like a million flickering pixels. The brilliant green flame is spreading up fast up his leg, reaching far past his ankle already. And from what I can see, I get a very bad feeling in my gut that the flame does no good to RJ, at all.

"The green flame, as you can see here, indicates dead code. Because of its fiery appearance on our patients, we call it, informally, 'The Flare', which is caused by a sudden abnormality in the code. Wherever the Flare touches, that part of the body flares up and is no longer able to function. It is a spreading disease, and can be fatal if not checked properly; meaning that the Flare can easily kill a character if it manages to spread to every part of the body…"

"Get to the point, what are you saying?" I snap, impatient.

"Basically, what I'm saying is that RJ's right foot is completely dead. Even if we manage to kill the Flare, RJ will never be able to walk normally on both legs again: he may need a cane or something. Also, even though he has not awakened yet, the Flare in him still hasn't stopped, and it will spread quickly. It was good of you to come directly to the hospital in its early stages, so that we are actually able to do something to stop it. However…it involves the removal of the areas it has already killed, so as to isolate the Flare for once and for all."

"So how are you able to…Oh." I say flatly, understanding what the doctor is attempting to do to RJ…and it ain't pretty.

"We have to remove RJ's right leg from the knee down." The doctor finishes. He catches sight of my gaping mouth then explains. "I know, it might be a bit too sudden for me to say this, but we really don't have much choice. The Flare is a fast-spreading disease: if we don't act anything in the next few hours, his leg just might not be the only affected part in him. And yes, even with characters that are unconscious, the Flare will still spread, at a quicker rate, even!"

The doctor now walks forward and looks at me in the eye "I know, I know, this might not seem pretty, especially when he's still not awake, but it really is the best way to save him. Please, try to understand. This really is the best for him, but we can't do anything without your permission."

After hearing this, I look away from the doctor, Felix and RJ, and sit down on one of the nearby chairs. I put my head in my hand, unable to believe everything that is happening. RJ now unconscious, I don't even know if he will ever wake up again, and now I have to decide if I have to chop his leg off!

 _And it is my entire fault_.

The doctor comes and sits down next to me, and at that time I realize the name tag on his coat: R. Dey. I spent so much time worrying about RJ that I don't even notice the doctor had a name.

Dey sighs. "I know this is difficult, and I know you're probably thinking that you shouldn't have done that to RJ, that you shouldn't just tear out his code and rebooted him. But everything has happened: we can't change the past anymore. But what we _can_ do, is to change the future. Change what we can change."

I sigh and turn back to the bed. "I don't know, why did I do this? I ruined him, all because of my selfishness…"

"Tsk, don't blame it all on yourself." Dey says, patting me on the shoulder. "We all make mistakes. We're all just trying to find our way out of the mess we created-"

"Yeah, but my mistake caused RJ to be in this condition; I should take the blame, not him. I know it doesn't make sense, but I feel I'm the one who deserves to become a total glitch, to become half-lame."

"Yeah, sometimes fate just decides to walk that way. Quill crashed our circuits back then, we all had to leave and I had to learn a new profession…which happens to be a doctor. It was all his fault, but we never blamed Quill for wrecking our game. We just learnt to live with it. If I can do it with an unplugged game, I believe you can do the same with RJ here."

I bury my head in my hands again. It is such a difficult decision, but I know time is running out. With every doubt I had, I lose precious time to save RJ from the Flare. While he couldn't make the choice of whether or not to enter the operation, I know he would silently approve my decision. I know he trusts me, even though I had made him broken beyond repair. This choice would be my ultimate apology to him. I just have to make the right choice…

I look back to the bed, where Felix is glancing nervously at RJ's stats, and I look back to the doctor, determined.

"Do it." I say. "Cut it off, remove it. Do what is best for him. Just don't let him die."

Dey nods. "Reckon you'd say that. We'll carry out the operation about two hours later. However, the procedure might take a long time, hours even. The Flare is not something we can take lightly; we'd rather spend more time focusing on every step in case something really does go wrong." He signals an assistant in waiting, who passes an oversized pen and clip pad to me. A form with information regarding the operation is clipped onto it. Dey shoots me a knowing look, and I got a feeling he somehow knows my each and every move, even when I don't notice it…

I pass the clip pad and the pen back, all documents signed. As Felix and I turn to leave, I sigh again. "I just hope I'd made the right choice…"

"I know you did, I know. I just know it." The doctor reassures me from behind, and with that Felix and I are escorted out of the room, leaving RJ behind on the bed.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah, I tossed in a bit of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 into here, it's not that obvious though, considering I've never watched the movie. I really wish I can watch it one day...**

 **Till then, I'm out! :D**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Okay, guys. Prepare your tissues, for it's gonna be emotional.**

 **Enjoy, my friends. :)**

* * *

Ralph

The operation takes place 3 hours later.

I am told by Dey that for the hours that led up to the operation, RJ still hasn't woke up. He said that it won't be a huge problem though, since they would be drugging him into unconsciousness before the operation anyhoo.

Dey told me not to wait outside the operation room, since he said, by experience, a typical Flare-removal operation takes at least 9 hours. Instead, he told me to leave the hospital and hang out with my friends and family in order to pass the time. And while I _did_ leave the hospital like he said, I just didn't feel like celebrating. Like when Felix pulled me up to the penthouse to party with the Nicelanders, I just feel like this is the right attitude to face the current situation. Like, the seriousness of RJ's condition is far greater than all the joy that all the entertainment offered to me.

Uncomfortable, I look around, the party seems muted and going in slow-motion. With all the laughter around me, I feel seemingly out of place, as if this is a place that I somehow don't belong tonight.

Finally, I quietly retreated from the penthouse party, and slip down the building to the towering pile of bricks located near the edge of the game. Yeah, I know; since I built myself a lil' shack I admit I don't sleep there anymore, but tonight the bricks just seem welcoming to me, as if beckoning me to just go and bury myself into them. I climb slowly up, kicking aside any loose bricks that had fallen down from the top of the pile, and make my way to the stump that I used to rest my back upon while I slept.

I raise my fists and bring them down to the bricks that I'm standing on, then gather the flecks and sweep them over me as I sit down against the stump.

 _Just like the old times._ I think in my head.

I lean back, pull the bricks over my chest like a blanket, and I let out a heavy sigh. Even from this distance, I can still hear the sounds from the penthouse party whooping loudly above me, and I wonder if I'm the only one who cares what had just happened in our game. Or in fact, if what I'm caring is not worth caring at all, that I'm just overreacting to seemingly ordinary stuff.

I let out a yawn and snuggle down to the makeshift bed, tossing all my worries and feelings aside, pushing the thoughts of RJ, Felix, Dey and the others out of my mind, clearing my head of everything. Unintentionally, I put one giant hand behind my head and rest against it, and my eyes close, pulling me out of this world and into another one, one that is free of all the troubles that I just encountered.

I tumble into that world, head first, embracing myself into it…

* * *

"RALPH, IT'S TIME! GAME ON! WAKE UP!"

I feel a rather violent slap on the cheek and startled, I wake up, only to see Felix's blue eyes looking into mine. "Huh? What? What happened?" I ask, still groggy.

"Arcade's open, kids are coming to play our games, we need to get ready. We're all at our positions, we're just waiting for you. Wait…so you just slept the whole night and you didn't realize it?!" He asks, surprised.

I shake my head and look around. I must have been more tired than I thought. "Yeah, I'm ready. Get to your place; I'll be here in a sec."

Felix nods at me, then bounds down the brick pile. I dust the brick flecks off my shirt and overalls, and hop off the brick pile myself. I then realize to my horror that because I dosed off last night, I didn't have time to check in on RJ, who may, or may not, have survived the operation. I didn't give myself the chance to see him before I head off to gameplay.

Shaking my head, I let that thought slide and I walk to a place near the screen. Just out of the corner of my eye, I see a little girl walk up and slip her quarter into our console. Felix was right: it was game time.

I give Felix, who is currently waiting on the other side of the screen, a thumbs-up, then I step forward and position myself under the programmed caption.

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

I rush forward and land my fist onto the first window I see, kicking out all the thoughts in my head, only focusing on the game. Felix rushes forward and fixes my damage quickly while I head up to the next floor, chucking out a few Nicelanders in my way if necessary. But even with my concentration, I can tell that I'm not working in my best: Felix has won far more medals than he usually does. Even some of the Nicelanders are asking why I'd become slower in my wrecking during some games.

I don't care. I don't care. I just wanted this day to end so that I can return to the hospital. But the day seems to drag on; the minutes feel forever to pass. Even the frequent waves from Vanellope across the console did nothing to lift my mood. But finally, at long last, Litwak ushered the last kid out of the arcade and locked the doors, leaving the whole place to ourselves.

I leap up from the mud puddle, scrub the dirt off my overalls, and run towards the direction of the hospital. Yet a call from Felix from behind stops me in my tracks. "What?" I ask, annoyed.

"Sorry to tell you this, but…uh…I asked Tammy out to Tapper's tonight. You know, it's our wedding anniversary. She'll give me a game-over with her gun if I turned her down."

I sigh "That's alright. You go ahead. I'll go and check on RJ." I turn and walk away from Felix.

"Oh, and tell RJ I said 'hi'." Felix calls behind my back. "If he's awake, that is." He quickly adds.

I make an 'okay' sign back. "Will do." Then I take off to downtown Niceland, where the hospital is located.

Like last night, the hospital is jam-packed with characters. However as soon as the receptionists caught sight of me, I am led down several alleys, up a few escalators, into the heart of the hospital, and am told to sit down and wait.

Occupying two of the large seats there, I glance at the characters walking to and fro; some who are patients, some who actually work here. It was quite a while before a nurse came up to me. "Wreck-it Ralph, is it?" She asked.

I nod.

"The operation was successful. RJ is now resting; do you want to go and visit him?"

I think for a moment, then I shake my head. "I don't know. I don't want to go and disturb him. He's gone through a lot lately."

"Well, if you want to visit him, he's in room 1102. That stands for 'eleventh floor, room two', which is right around this corner."

"Thank you for your information, but let him rest: I don't think he's ready." I lean back on the seats and stretched.

"Oh, and one more thing." The nurse mutters, then she leans in close to me.

" _RJ's awake."_

That sentence was enough to get me bolting to my feet and rushing towards the room that the nurse told me RJ was in.

RJ

Darkness.

All around me.

All was dark, and silence, and emptiness.

Buried underneath the waves.

Unmoving, untouchable.

Unable to resurface.

Wait.

No.

I am rising.

Slowly moving upward.

Like I'm being yanked up by the chest.

Pulling me up.

Higher and higher.

Not drowning in the water anymore.

But being tugged upwards.

Towards the light.

Light.

Light.

Where…

Where am I?

My head surfaces above the waves, and I open my eyes.

Instead of bobbing above the waters, I find myself in a room, lying on my back. Instead of the sky, a ceiling with a checkered pattern covers the space above me. My body is dumb and throbbing, as if there are hundreds of tiny needles piercing my skin simultaneously. A muffled _beep_ causes my head to sway slightly to my left, where two machines are rested upon tables. Wires run to and fro the machines, and when I turn my head to the other side, I can see another machine by my side, this one with a buzzing sound.

My body hurts. Ugh, it hurts. I try to raise my arm, in order to see what is making it so uncomfortable, but something else holds it down, as if my arm's being bolted down on this thing I'm lying on. I try again, this time giving more strength…

"Sir, don't do that! The wires might snap! Here, let me help you out."

I feel a hand under my back, and very carefully, I'm being guided to a sitting position, and from there I can see the place I was in more clearly. I cock my head, confused, as this is a place I've never seen or been in before. I've never been to a place where there are so many characters wearing white robes walking around carrying clipboards, tall metallic things twisted into strange shapes, and yet more machines, all giving out some sort of weird sounds that I don't recognize.

I raise my arm again, and now I can see dozens of wires are plugged into it. My eyes widen a bit when I realize how…normal my arm looks, but I shake my head and trace the wires to the machines next to me, electricity crackling down them and into my body.

What is this place? Why am I being connected to these machines? And why do I feel so…so…small?! So weak?! So fragile?!

"Where…where am I? Who are ya?" I ask hoarsely, and then jerk back sharply: I do not remember myself having such a slight accent before, nor my voice being slightly high-pitched before.

The white-clothed character, I assume the same one that helped me sit up earlier, walks over to me. "You're in the hospital. You were found having severe code damage and were unconscious, thus you were brought here for treatment. You have been out for at least a day on this bed. Oh, and an operation has been made while you were still under."

"Hold it, hold it. I cannot catch everythin' yer sayin'. Yer speakin' way too fast. What happened to me? What really happened?"

The character sighs and waves a clipboard at me. "Your code has been torn out, and that made you unconscious; that is, you cannot feel anything for the past few hours. The damage in your code has led to several great changes in your appearance and particulars; for example, as you've just heard it yourself, you have developed a slight accent."

No wonder I feel so small: I have really shrunk. My body, although still in pain, does not so heavy anymore, and this bed, the thing that I'm apparently lying on, seems wider for my frame. My lower part of my body feels numb, so I carefully shuffle my legs and feet to get the feeling away…

Wait…that's odd. If I'm not wrong, my left foot feels fine: I can feel it brushing against the sheets that I'm being covered in; but with my right foot…I can't…I can't feel anything. It is like that my foot is simply…gone; that I can't even feel the weight of it being attached to my right leg…

"However, the damage has also led to you developing a serious infection, the Flare. It is incurable, and it can kill. So…we had no choice but to…uh…Simply put: we, uh…" The character looks away, then finishes his sentence "We…cut off part of your right leg."

" _WHAT? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?"_ I yell, and at the same time, reach forward and try to pull back the sheets from the end of my bed. The character tries to stop me, but he's not fast enough: I have whipped the sheets covering my legs and tossed them aside.

When I see it, I let out a wail and bury my head into my hands, amid the squealing of the machines next to me, signaling that my wires have been torn out. The character quickly reattaches the wires to my arms and chest, but I take no care to his actions. All I see is that of my right leg is instead of ending in a foot like my left one was, it ended abruptly just under the knee, and nothing more. Thick bandages are wrapped around it, so that I can't really see how my leg really looks like. But still, I can't believe this is happening to me. My body, changed; part of my leg, gone. What is really happening to me?!

"I'm sorry, but it really had to be done. The Flare could be fatal if not treated quickly. Luckily your guardian gave us the permission to do the operation, so that we could stop it before it had gone any further."

"My…guardian?! Who's he?" I ask, confused.

"Wreck-it Ralph. Your brother. Wait, don't you know that?" The character asks me back.

" _I don't, have, a brother."_ I shoot back bitterly, crossing my arms and looking away.

"Well, that's what he refers himself anyway. He should be coming soon as the arcade's closed."

Just then, I hear _thumps_ , great big ones, getting louder and louder at every second, the ground shaking more and more violently at every approach. They seem to be coming from outside the door. Almost instantaneously, all the characters in the room rush and hold onto everything fixed to the wall, as if they know what is happening next. I grip the bars of my bed tightly, bracing myself for what is currently barreling down to our room.

 _Thump, Thump, THUMP!_

I grip the bars tighter, afraid of what is coming.

Then… _CRASH! ! ! ! ! ! ! !_ The doors, and the wall surrounding it, bursts open, thrusting themselves into the room. Characters who were near the door at that moment scatter into the far corners of the room, sheltered from any more incoming blows if necessary. I jerk my head to where the door used to be, and through the door I can see a huge character brushing flecks from the broken door and wall off his shirt standing there.

 _Wait a minute, I know you!_

Wreck-it Ralph, my original, stands in the doorway. He looks up from his shirt and catches sight of my bed. I shrink back at his gaze, hoping that he'll not come to my bed, that he'll not make me recall everything I wanted to forget.

He comes here anyway.

"Dr. Dey, how is he?" Ralph asks the character who had helped me earlier.

The character, Dey, nods in my direction and says. "The operation was successful: the main part of the Flare has been removed, and he's healing quickly: quicker than I imagined!" He looks down at his pad again. "Since he is in his original game, I've given him several reboots, _with safety measures_ ," he gives Ralph a glaring look at this sentence, and my original looks away "to speed up the healing process. It is safe to say he has responded nicely to these reboots, and one of them even helped him wake up. I expect a few more days for his leg to fully heal until we are able to get him a prosthetic to walk with. Mind you, he's still an unstoppable glitch. He'll need to rely on a portable stabilizer to stabilize his code, but still, keep a good eye on him."

"Done said, I will." Ralph says back to the doctor, then he turns to me. I turn around in my bed, shifting to the other side, away from him. But Ralph simply walks around to the other side instead.

"Hey, you feeling better?" He asks, looking me up and down, possibly taking in all my features and places I had changed. Still, I avoid eye contact with him, not wanting to answer.

He clears his throat, and then continues. "I'm…I'm sorry I made you look like this. Felix and I didn't know what you'd go through in the process, how you suffered. But it was mostly my fault. I shouldn't have torn out your code. And changed your appearance. And caused you to lose part of your leg. I'm sorry."

I scowl. So _he's_ the reason why I changed so much. "Ya wasted yer time." I mutter. "Ya should have kept yer promise, and should have kept me locked up."

"We'd thought you'd deserved a second chance! And I just cannot think of you being locked up in that dark place forever! We didn't know the consequences of a lockage!" Ralph explains.

"Second chance?" I sit up straighter in my bed. _"Second chance?!_ Ya, have got to be kiddin' me. What makes ya think I have a second chance?"

"I mean, I-" Ralph starts, but I cut him off.

"I was NEVER supposed to be unlocked, NEVER! Ya know that, right?! I'm a glitch, I'm a mistake, and I'm a threat to the game! How can ya not see that?!" I wring my hands out, the machines again beeping madly by my side.

As Dey reconnects the wires again, Ralph reaches out and grabs hold of my shoulders. In pain, I wince, and Ralph softens his grip a bit. "Tell me then, Ralph Junior, _why_ do you think you were never meant to be unlocked?" He asks me, staring straight into my eyes. I try to look away from them, but I force myself to glare forward.

"I'd wronged ya far too many times!" I protest "Look, I lied about my past, I made ya thought I was a normal character, I had put yer game in danger and still done nothin' 'bout it! Why would ya unlock me again?! I was locked up by the programmers for a reason!"

"RJ…"

"I DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE A SECOND CHANCE!" I scream, banging my hands down on my bed. With all the air knocked out of me, I gasp deeply, my body suddenly dizzy. I find myself leaning backward, tired, when a hand—Dey's, steadies me to the end of the bed. The doctor sighs and attaches two more wires to my chest, and although I can't see it, I can feel electricity entering through these wires, supplying me with energy. But it isn't enough for me to verbally fight back with Ralph.

Ralph shakes his head and glances at Dey, who shrugs his shoulders. "You really think you don't deserve a second chance? Really?" Ralph asks me back, his face mixed with emotions.

I nod. "No one with such actions should be allowed out again. Plus, I'm a clone, a bundle of codin' which everyone is either fearful of or shuns at first glance. Nobody thinks I deserve to be here, so why should ya even think about it? Ya don't even know how _I_ felt!"

"Oh, then you don't know much about me, right?" Ralph sighs and sits down next to my bed. "If I told you who I was before the man I am now, you'll probably have a rethink about what you just said."

"I doubt it," I mutter, crossing my hands "But please, do tell."

Ralph sighs again. "For 30 years, I have been the Bad Guy of this game. I used to be the face of terror everyone had known. Characters screamed at me when I passed, no one offered any help at all when I was in trouble, and I was extremely miserable. It got to a point where I thought that the only way to fix all this…is to get a medal, to prove myself. Well, there were no medals for me to get in this game, if you didn't count stealing as a method. So, uh…I, uh…I game-jumped."

"Ya did _what_?!" I ask, leaning forward, unable to hear everything.

"I game-jumped. I abandoned my entire game and snuck into another one, one that I knew I'd find a medal. I didn't know it, but that action nearly killed our game in the process: our game cannot operate without a villain, which is me. Not only that, when I got my medal, I accidently brought a dangerous creature, a cy-bug, into another game, causing a chain reaction of events that nearly led up to a cy-bug apocalypse. You'd thought when I brought the cy-bug into the other game I would have stopped, I would have turned back and tried to fix everything before it was too late; but no, no. I was so blinded in my actions that I didn't realize the danger I'd put everyone in. I nearly killed everyone, even you." Ralph looks up at me.

Honestly, I am shocked: I had never thought that a character like Ralph would cause _that_ much damage. Sure, he _is_ Wreck-it Ralph, but what are the odds of him causing such a catastrophe?!

"I would have gone much further, done more destruction, if it not for a certain glitch called Vanellope Von Schweetz. Yep, that's President FartFeathers right there. Sure, she was annoying and all, even stole my medal the very first time we met; yet she changed me, made me realize that I don't need a medal to prove that I'm a Good Guy, that I'm not as bad as my code wants me to be. Liken when everyone just sees me as a Bad Guy, as Wreck-it Ralph, I can show that I can be someone else despite my programming…"

"Seriously, what I wanna say is that it's not just you, RJ. Everyone makes mistakes every now and then. Just chuck away your background for a moment and you'll see we're not really that different."

He's true: we're not really _that_ different after all.

"Look, RJ. I'm not forcing you to stay, to be a part of this game, to be my brother. But I just wanna say is…" Ralph looks away, a bit emotional "You deserve more than being locked up. I don't wanna say it, but…you changed me. A lot. You made me realize that even for a character who was never meant to be released, he could even stand up for what he did, that he could even have a sense of bravery that many of the normal characters haven't…" He wipes the stray tears from his eye, and I'm surprised to find my vision starting to blur up as well.

"I mean, you could just walk out-well, not literally, of this hospital and down to the nearest game and give yourself a permanent game over. You could end your life if you want to; I mean, I don't think I have the right to stop you from doing that. What I am, however, is giving you a second chance, a restart in life, a chance to begin again. To throw your past behind, and start over."

"Yer…really giving me a second chance?" I peep "Are ya sure? I don't deserve this, why are ya doin' this to me?"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance. Even you, RJ, no matter whatever you say." He's crying, hard, and now uses one giant finger to rubs his eyes dry, yet with no success. "If a Bad Guy like me, who was selfish enough to steal without thinking and single-handedly start an apocalypse could have a restart on life, I believe you deserve one as well."

Someone hands me a tissue from my left, and I blow my nose noisily into it. But even after that I find myself asking for more and more tissues, to the point I need someone to place a full box on my lap and just simply stuff my teary, blotchy face into them.

"So, are you willing to accept your permanent place in our game, and train to become a true character, and…become my brother?" Ralph asks me, his eyes hopeful.

I start to answer, but my voice chokes up, my words trapped inside my throat, unable to get out. I let out a small cry and try and reach out to Ralph, as if his choices suddenly became tangible. I desperately wanted to answer, despite my mind telling me to go the other way. To be honest, I desperately want to say 'yes', to become a true member of his game, to fully leave my past behind. But another part fiercely pulls me back, yelling that I don't deserve this future, that I should just leave and try to find a way to lock myself up again.

But I really want to call this place home, to have someone to love me, to have a sense of belonging…

 _You don't deserve this!_

I try and push the thoughts down, shove them to somewhere that I would never find them again. But each time I do so, they fight back up with a vengeance, taunting me that a clone can never have a chance of redemption, that Ralph is just lying about the future he's about to give me. I put my head into my hands, for it is hurting like mad, and I can tell it is not just from the natural pain that I already have.

"I…" I start again, but the negative thoughts again win me over, binding my voice down, muting me. I bite down on my lip and I taste code, trying to get my words out. I close my eyes and fight back, trying to fight back my thoughts, fight back the voices telling me that I should deny Ralph's offer.

That I should just give in and get locked up again.

 _Just give in and reject, you don't deserve this._ The voice taunts me again.

I squeeze my eyes tighter and grip the bars of my bed harder, fighting back. I can hear the machines beeping loudly next to me, but I don't care, I don't care!

 _No!_ I fight back, pushing the thoughts harder and harder down.

 _I want a second chance!_

 _I want a restart on life!_

 _I want a future where I have a place that I can belong!_

 _Give me my future back!_

 _Give it back to me!_

 _Give it!_

 _GIVE IT! ! ! ! ! ! ! !_

Finally, with a loud cry, I collapse onto my bed, the energy completely gone from me. As I plunge into tiredness, I feel a hand, a giant one, gently slide under my body and guide me back to a sitting position. When I reopen my eyes, I look straight into Ralph's eyes, warm and friendly and full of hope. And in them, I find the courage to overpower my thoughts, and I find my voice.

" _I am willin'; I will become yer brother."_

Ralph smiles, and wraps his arms around me in a bear hug, embracing me tightly. I feel my arms and chest prickle because of his grip, some of my wires falling from me, but I ignore it completely. This sense of belonging, of love, is far greater than any pain I have, and overwrites it entirely.

"We'll help you out," Ralph mutters, his face half-buried in my body "We'll get you a prosthetic leg and also a stabilizer, and help you get used to them. I'll teach you how to become a wrecker, how to destroy even without your original powers. And don't worry much about your glitch: we'll keep it at bay, put it to good use: you won't believe how powerful a glitch is until someone uses it in the right way…"

"Wait, do ya really think I can be a part of yer game after all, that I might help ya out in gameplay?" I ask, my voice eager.

"Why not? I don't see the point of wasting a perfectly good character." He hugs me tighter, and I slowly lift my wire-filled arms and embrace him back, my body flickering slightly, my face messy with tears. I don't know if I'm crying because of sadness or from happiness, but I don't care. All I know is that I had made the right choice, that I will indeed become a part of Ralph's game, that I would finally have a place to belong.

We were like this for quite a while, simply hugging each other, until Dr. Dey clears his throat and shatters the silence. "I'm afraid that visiting time is over. RJ needs some rest. You can come back to visit him tomorrow. I'll keep a close eye on him while you're gone."

"Thanks doc." Ralph gently releases his grip on me, and slowly walks backward towards the exit, his eyes never leaving mine. I might have imagined it, but his smile seems brighter, his eyes sparkling with joy. "You take care of yourself, brother. Okay?"

I can't help but grin: the word 'brother' just seems so natural, so fitting to me.

"I will." I promise, sitting up straighter in my bed. "I won't die, _brother_." I shoot back playfully at him, winking.

He lets out a laugh. "Can't help but think how much fun you'll bring to our game later on." Ralph laughs again "Oh, and Felix says 'hi'. Can't believe I forgot that…"

This time I let out a laugh "Tell him RJ says 'hi' back. Oh, and he'll soon bring a whole load of new stuff and destruction into our game, so watch out!"

I hear chuckles all around; not just from Ralph, but from some other characters working in the room. I find myself grinning widely as well. Ralph manages to stifle his giggles and waves "See you later, RJ."

I smile brightly and return his wave. "See ya, bro."

As Ralph leaves through the hole that he created, Dr. Dey turns and catches me smiling like an idiot. He raises his eyebrows. "Well, well, well. Looks who's home." He mutters.

I beam brightly and rest my back upon the end of my bed, for I know the answer to that very well.

" _I am."_

" _I am indeed home."_

* * *

 **A/N: Spoiler Alert: we're nearing the end of Unlocked. I got a few more chapters before this fully wraps up. Don't think anyone will still follow this, I'm ending this for the sake of ending it; but I really wanna say thanks for all who actually care about this story of mine.**

 **I'll address everything in more detail in a later pic. :)**

 **And I'm gonna say it again: Unlocked has not ended yet. Just wanna say thanks a bit earlier. :)**

 **Till then, I'm out! :D**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: Alright guys, second to last chapter here, we're almost done!**

 **And yes, quite a lot of flashbacks happen here. I'll separate them with line-breakers. :)**

* * *

Chapter 17

~4 months later

Ralph

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

I raise my fists toward the wall of the building, the windows and walls crumbling under the force, no match for my sheer strength. As I climb up the side of the building, occasionally slamming my massive fists at the walls and windows for further damage, I can hear the Nicelanders crying for help, crying for Felix to save them.

And sure enough, there he is, running up to the side of the building, raising up his hammer, ready to save the day.

"I can fix it!"

He hops up and down the windowsills, swinging his hammer at every possible damage he can find, fixing them. While I go and continue my destruction, yelling and pounding the building again, hoping to create more destruction before Felix fixes everything.

As I fly past the Nicelanders, I can hear some of them breathe a sigh of relief at Felix's arrival, glad their hero has come to save the day again; glad that this level, the 20th, will be like any other level.

But what they _don't_ know that Felix and I had secretly planned on including a game changer. A slight twist in the game that would hopefully throw off the Nicelanders, and also, the players. To be honest, we're not so certain if we should even add in this new feature, whether the players would like what we're about to do; or that the character concerning our new feature might not be ready at all to do the job…

I blink that thought away quickly: of course he's ready, why should I doubt him? I'd seen him practice so hard for the past few months, so trying his best despite losing his original powers. Of course he's ready, I just know he is.

I glance up at Felix on the ledge above me, and I wink. He returns my glance, knowing what to do, what to say.

Our little game-changer will be implanted in three…two…one! _NOW!_

"Hey, you wrecker! Getting tired already? I can fix this building nice and square in no time!" Felix calls from above me.

I know, it is a bit out of this character, but we'll finalize the statements later. We're just improvising at the moment. Anyway, the statements are not really that important: what's happening after the statements is what matters most.

"What? No! Not tired at all." I shoot back at him. I glance causally at the area near the edge of the screen. "Why do you think that?"

"Look! I'm almost finished! Aren't you gonna do something about it?" Felix asks, half-tauntingly.

"Well…let's just say I got an ace up my sleeve, a little game-changer that you might enjoy…" I raise my head and shout "SUMMON THE GLITCH! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !"

For a while after I yelled, the game is still. Nothing moved at all, nothing changed at all; everything is just the same…

No, wait; scratch that.

A slight commotion is brewing up near the edge of the screen, green and bright and flickering. As we watch, the brightness slowly disappears; and a young man, clothed in green and blue, grasping an oversized hammer in his left hand, materializes into view. Upon materializing, he slightly wobbles while he tries to stand upright. His feet, one real, one metallic, plow hard into the ground. He shakes his head, flipping the two floppy strands of hair away from his eyebrow. He then looks up at us high up, his eyes impossibly bright and green, but mostly so that he could return my gaze.

 _RJ._

He turns to the screen, winks and gives the players a cocky gap-toothed grin, then says smugly "Glitch summoned~"

And with that, he runs and plows his hammer into the first window he sees. As Felix is directed back down to fix the damage, RJ's body briefly flares up into green pixels, and he vanishes, only to reappear on a window ledge a level up. He stumbles a bit as he tries to slow down, using the hammer to stall him from falling, glitching a bit. But immediately he regains his balance and smashes the windows and the walls next to him, increasing the destruction. After he's finished, he glitches away to another part of the building, trying to cause more damage.

Seeing him darting here and there, I can't help but smile. This is RJ's first game after all, wouldn't be fair to put too much pressure on him.

RJ turns and throws a brick at a nearby window, shattering it. As he turns and starts to leave, Felix arrives and fixes the window and hops down again, taking RJ completely by surprise and causing him to fall down. I quickly run and held my out my hand, catching and resting him on the ledge next to me.

No harm in helping your fellow wrecker, right?

RJ takes a few deep breaths, gasping loudly "Whoah! Not as easy as I imagined!" He thinks aloud. "How do ya guys get used to 'tis?!"

"Believe me, brother, it took a _loooong_ time. It'll be harder without your powers, but I believe you'll catch on soon." I say back, while still pounding the walls. I see a stray brick and I toss it at Felix, who tries to dodge it while still managing to fix our destruction.

"Am I doin' well, then?" RJ asks me, a bit nervous, glancing at the building nervously. "I mean, I just fell…"

I give him a small slap on the back "You're doing awesome, RJ. It's your first game, your first time in doing so. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, don't push yourself too much. Although," I look away to an undamaged part of the building "I would suggest you to start destroying _that_ part of the building right there. Make it more fun for Felix, okay?"

"'kay." RJ half-runs, half-glitches to the part I mentioned, hammer in hand.

I smile again. RJ sure is growing up fast. Only a few months had passed and he has changed so much, as RJ continues wrecking the building, I let myself drift away and into my memories, where I watched RJ become a completely different character…

* * *

The day right after RJ woke up, right after the arcade's closed, Felix and I paid another visit to him. This time, though, we also brought a pretty heavy book along with our visit. We were preparing to suggest RJ to do something big, something drastic to his identity, something like…

"Ya want me, to _change my name?!_ " RJ asked, slightly angered, hands gripped tightly on the poles of his bed.

Felix and I looked at one another: things were not going the way we planned. "Um…yeah." I stammered, nervous. "We want you to change your name."

"But I _like_ my name!" He protested "I like bein' called RJ!"

"Yeah, but that name stood for 'Ralph Junior', a clone. However, you're not a clone anymore, but a new character. Shouldn't you…er…change your name with it?" I persuaded. "I mean, we can still refer you as 'RJ', but…maybe we could change what those two letters mean?"

My brother sat back and crossed his arms, thinking hard about what we're gonna do. To be honest, I don't mind calling him 'RJ': it's kinda cute and really suits his personality. But I just wanted him to fully try and leave his past behind, and by a name change, that could be the very first step.

Finally, he sighed and grabbed the book from Felix, flipping it furiously. "Okay, I'll change it. Mind ya, I'm only changin' the latter part: I'm keepin' the 'Ralph' for 'R'."

"Okay, no prob, that's fine." Felix and I stood back, giving RJ some space. "If you want, you can just check out the 'J' section of names if you're considering changing only half of your name."

Hearing this, RJ slowly flipped the book to a certain page where the name 'Izzy' is located, held his finger down, and then flipped to another page with a huge letter 'K' on it. He slid his finger carefully out and holds a section of the book with his two fingers, adorably dangling the book from his left hand. "Ya sayin' 'tis all I need?"

Felix looked at me, then back at RJ. "If you'd like."

RJ returned our gaze, then puts his attention on the book. But instead of reading it from the beginning of the J section as I expected, RJ simply _stuck his finger from his other hand into the section and randomly chooses a part to start._ "Let's me see…" he muttered, opening the book to the part he had selected.

"Did you just _randomly selected a page to search for your new name?!_ " I asked in disbelief.

RJ glared back up at me. "Yes…what? Is that a sin?"

I backed up quickly. "No, no. What I mean is…" Felix elbowed me on the hip, and I caught my tongue, stopping myself from saying what I had in mind.

RJ returned his focus to the book. "Let's see…How about 'Jayden'?"

I twitched my nose, thinking hard. There are some things in life that just cannot be rushed, and this is definitely one of them. Finally, I shook my head. "Nah, doesn't sound well. Pick another one."

"Okay…" RJ ran his finger down the page, and then flipped two pages more, trying to find anything that manages to jump out at him. "How about…'Jeffery', then?" He looked up at me again.

I twitched my nose again, and once again shook my head: 'Ralph Jeffery' sounded _horrible_. Even before I answered, I could hear the pages of the book flipping again.

"How about 'Jennifer'?" He asked.

" _That's a girl's name!"_ I yelled. _"Are you serious?!"_

RJ looked a lil' bit dejected, and I couldn't help feeling back about my outburst just now. "Hey, just a question, nothin' more." He muttered, then turned back to the book.

RJ flipped another page, scanning the names carefully. "How about… _'Jerome'_ , then?"

Curious, I peered down at the entry where RJ's finger was on. "Jerome," I read aloud "'sacred name' in Greek." I look at RJ, and mentally fitted the aforementioned name after my name.

Ralph, _Jerome_.

Sure, it looked unusual, it sounded unusual, but I can see it is also unique in a way. I looked back down at him. "What do you think?" I asked him back.

This time, he twitched his nose, concentrating. "I…I _like_ it." He sounded quite dazed while saying this, as if not really believing what he just said. "I like it." He said again.

I tapped him lightly on his shoulder. "So then, is that what you want to call yourself, 'Ralph Jerome'?"

He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. I could tell he is really thinking hard about this one. "It's okay," I reassured him "if you can't answer now, you can do so later."

"No," RJ snapped his eyes open. "It's _perfect_." He gushed. "I love it. I can see it plastered in bold, capital letters on my shirt, and I love it."

"So you really want me to put this on your code box, to define you?" I asked. "This is important, think carefully before you answer."

"No need to think more: Ralph Jerome it is." RJ smiled, closing the book.

The way he smiled made me realize that he had made up his choice, and will not change it anytime soon. He pushed the heavy Book of Names to us, and leans back. "Call me 'Ralph Jerome' from now on."

We returned his smile, and I take the book away with me. As I turned to leave the room, I glanced back at RJ, his face beaming with brightness. I could tell that he was happy with his decision, and I'm glad about it.

* * *

A few weeks later, RJ was finally well enough to leave the hospital. After a few final words from Dey on how to keep RJ's code safe from the occasional glitches and changes, we left the hospital, RJ leaning onto me, his oversized clothes sagged, his arms clutching around me tightly. To be honest, I don't blame him: he had just started to get used to his prosthetic, a metallic pole which was attached just under the knee. A metallic code stabilizer had been attached onto his left chest, its center, a hexagonal glass dome, glowing green, indicating RJ's code was now stabilized. I needed to attach RJ to a huge stabilizing machine while he's asleep, as he'll not be able to stabilize his code manually then.

RJ stumbled, his bare foot and prosthetic half-walking, half-dragging on the ground. It's gonna take a while for him to fully get used to walking with a prosthetic, the least I can do is to help him to learn and get used to them.

Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun waited for us at the entrance. When Vanellope caught sight of us, she went and glitches up my shoulder, bumping RJ lightly with her elbow. "Wow, I thought Stinkbrain was kidding when he said you changed a lot, but seriously, I cannot recognize you now!"

RJ chuckled "Yeah, I changed too much, became more handsome, more good-lookin;'. Ya won't mistake me for Stinkbrain now!"

"I HEARD THAT!" I bellow playfully to them.

Felix and Calhoun ran up to us, and we left the hospital together. RJ looked up at the sky, at the same stars that were still shining w-hen he was rushed to the hospital that fateful day.

"Can't believe I actually belong here now…" He said softly. He then looks around, and turns to me "Aww man, I'll never get used to 'tis place, Ralph."

"Oh, but it's about to get better." I replied. RJ looked puzzled, trying to see what I mean. I started to answer the question in his mind, but I stopped myself, thinking that it would be better if I showed him instead.

Instead of walking back to my home, we went to the train station near the edge of the game, where a train was waiting.

"No…" RJ said, his eyes widening. "You didn't…"

"Oh yes, we did." I said, helping the other three characters to sit down before turning back to RJ. "Wanna go see what is out there?"

"But…but…" RJ stammered nervously, tugging his shirt "won't I be trapped again? Unable to leave?"

I shook my head, and I led him to the opening of the exit of our game. I then positioned myself behind him so that he was directly facing the opening. "Come on, put up your hand. Try it." I encouraged.

RJ looked at me bashfully, his face still full of doubt. I can clearly tell that he desperately wants to try and leave our game, to see what the outside world was like, but was still afraid to do so. "Go on." I encouraged him again.

Slowly, RJ raised his left hand and gently puts it against the opening. This time, though, there was no buzzing sound, no opaque wall crashing down on him, preventing him from leaving. RJ reached out more, trying to sense the wall, then lost his balance and fell forward, landing in the tunnel. He slowly tried to pick himself up when he looked back at me and realized where he was.

 _He was outside his game_.

"I'm…" RJ started to speak, but he stopped himself, as tears of joy were rolling down his cheeks quickly. "I'm…I'M FREE! ! ! !" He managed to stand up, and using the wall as a support, he started to try and hobble down the power cord, his face in utter happiness. "I'M FREE! ! ! ! ! ! !" He cried again further down the cord.

The whole action is so comical, but there was no mistaking the joy in RJ. After all, he finally got his wish of going outside his game; what more can a clone-turned-character want?

Felix looked at RJ, then back at me, smiling. I return his gaze. "He's happy, he's really happy. Yeah…I'll go get him. It's a long way from here to the station."

I walked into the tunnel and tapped RJ on the shoulder. Right after he turned I grabbed him and hoisted him over my shoulder, and started walking back to the entrance. RJ was squealing in protest, but he abruptly stopped when I plopped him into the empty seat near the front of the train.

"It's a long way to Game Central Station." I explained, sitting down myself. "With your one leg, you won't be able to get far before the arcade opens. Better use the train."

RJ looked at the tunnel ahead of us, and without turning back replied "Fair enough." Just as the train moved and started out of our game and down the power cord.

Very soon, the train stopped once more, and I helped RJ out of the car. He held tightly onto me as we walked through the gateway that led to the station. _BEEP! BEEP!_ RJ flinched as the red, net-like coding fell upon us. As usual, Surge Protector stepped up to me, asking for our names. RJ peered down at him curiously.

"Name?" Surge asked.

I motioned for Calhoun, since she was about RJ's height, to hold my brother as I bent down and confronted Surge. "Look, glowing light bulb head: we have a clone-turned-character who had just stepped out his game for the very first time in forever, and you have just ruined the night for him. Get your face out of here, and leave us alone for the time being, or else…"

"Or else…what?" Surge asked me back.

I growled, and showed him my fist. "You're gonna get a free, brand-new, code-smeared makeover. I've heard from reviews that it won't be pretty."

I heard RJ and Vanellope stifle a giggle behind my back. Surge Protector looked at my fist, still raised over his head, and shuddered. He took one more look at us, then quickly leaves with a blue flash.

"That's a cool way to exit." RJ commented.

I gave him a glaring look, unable to believe what I've just heard. But I then stopped and looked at him in the eye. "With your glitch, you might be able to do _better_ than that in no time, darting away in a flash. All you need is practice. Doesn't that sound good to you?"

RJ's eyes widened again at my statement. He looked down at his hands, which were flickering slightly at the moment. "Ya…ya think…that I can do what he just did? Really?"

"Really." I said back. RJ beamed, and we continue our way into the station. As the bright lights from the station shone down on us, RJ reached up and shielded his eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden change in brightness of the station. When he finally put down his hands, he was utterly speechless, gob smacked by the new world around him. He turned carefully in a circle, stilling holding onto me, trying to take in every little detail.

There was no doubt that he'd never seen anything like this before.

"Wow…" RJ gasped, grasping my shoulder tightly. All around him, characters from all different games were milling about, either going to other games or just hanging out with some friends. Some of the characters from Bad-anon caught sight of us and waved, and I motioned RJ to wave back, which he did, hesitantly and shyly. Some other characters were pointing our way as well, but I didn't care: news of RJ had leaked out all over the arcade, so characters probably already know the guy leaning on my shoulder. Seeing RJ still mesmerized by the station, I made a mental note of not telling him this until he stayed a while longer.

"'Tis…'tis amazin'!" He cried, looking up at me. "Thank you, Ralph, thank you…"

I smiled back down at him. "Don't thank me just yet: the night's not over." RJ only had time to shoot me a surprised glance when I started pushing him towards the entrance to _Pac-Man_. "We're gonna pick up a few cherries from that game, then hang out for a drink at _Tappers_ , then head over to _Sugar Rush_ for a screening of a totally sweet Grand Prix! You ready for this?"

Hearing this, RJ crushed himself to me, crying again. I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him over. "I…I...Ralph," he sputtered "why did ya do 'tis to me?"

I ran a finger through his hair, messing it further into countless spikes. "Oh come on! You should have seen it coming! Don't you think we would show you just a tiny peek of what our world looks like before ushering you back? Don't you wanna go out and see what is outside our game for real?"

My brother was now breathing rapidly, and placed a hand on his stabilizer. "Ya…ya guys planned 'tis all along." I could feel him shaking, both in disbelief and with excitement. I dragged him over across the station, Felix, Calhoun and Vanellope following close behind. RJ was glitching wildly now, giddy, nervous of what is about to happen next.

I shook RJ playfully, "You know, when you got used to that leg of yours, you can go out right after the arcade's closed and explore, even without me! Just a few days or weeks more, then…" I left my sentence hanging, just so RJ could mentally fill in the gaps himself.

RJ smiled back at me as we entered the entrance to _Pac-Man_ , this time without the gate bleeping at my arrival.

Surge really did take my warning for good.

And yes, I could reveal that RJ indeed did exactly what I said: in the next few days, he tried to balance on his prosthetic whenever he can, in order to walk without me. He had also managed to visit places outside his game right after the arcade closed, fulfilling his wish to the fullest. Soon, RJ was able to walk and run even without my help, and I couldn't help smiling at his achievement. Never did I know that RJ would grow and change himself further very, very soon, to the point where I didn't see it coming.

Which, ironically, also leads us to our first argument as brothers…

* * *

"I hate 'tis!" RJ cried behind my back one day.

I whipped my head back to see what he was referring to. He was pointing down at his shirt and overalls with a look of absolute disgust.

"I hate 'tis!" RJ repeated.

I stood up and looked at him "Now, now, now, RJ. Don't say stuff like that. There must be a reason why you said this. Why do you hate our outfit?" I asked.

"Can't ya see it?" He asked me back. "The colors look so dull, and the clothes barely fit me! Plus, I look just the same as ya only with different colors! What's the literal point of 'tis getup?!"

"Look! This outfit is to show that you're related to me." I tried to explain. "I mean, when you're called out for gameplay, don't you want gamers to see who you really are?!"

"Well, I don't freakin' care!" RJ stood up to me, his face flustered with rage "'Tis the worst thing I've ever worn, and I feel _sick_ just lettin' characters see me wearin' 'tis ridiculous thing in public! I feel like an idiot!"

"If you hate these clothes so much, then _why didn't you tear them off when you still can before?!_ " I rebutted, my hands clenching into fists.

" _I DIDN'T FEEL THAT WAY BACK THEN! ! ! !"_ RJ yelled back, shoving me.

Instinctively, I pushed him back, and RJ glitched away before I can shove him again. As I looked around, I feel a slap on my shoulder, and I turned to see RJ trying to get away. I reached out and grabbed him before he got the chance to leave.

"You son of a…okay, I won't say it." I said in a low, threatening voice. "But you should know that this is an absolutely stupid decision. You don't know what the hell you're thinking. End of story." I turned, facing my back to RJ.

RJ let out a small growl, then he shouted "Ya know what? I'm gonna get myself outa 'tis hideous outfit if 'tis the last thing I'll do!" I heard him stomping across the floor as he said so.

"Yeah, go on. I don't care." I muttered, not really caring what RJ would plan to do.

The door slammed shut behind me, and RJ stormed out of the house. I simply rolled my eyes and sighed. My brother doesn't know what he was doing. Sooner or later, he'll come back and realize what an idiot he was.

I should had been less confident.

About an hour later, I heard the door open, and I turn to see RJ casually closing the door, whistling.

And I gasped.

For his outfit was completely changed. Gone were his green plaid polo and his dark blue overalls. Instead, he was now wearing a light blue shirt, and a green hooded jacket with a white stripe running horizontally through the middle, unzipped. A pair of jeans hugged his legs; his left foot was no longer uncovered and was encased in a shoe, while his right jean leg was wrapped all the way up to just under the knee, exposing his entire prosthetic. His stabilizer was displayed proudly on his jacket, its center glowing.

For a while, no one said anything, then RJ broke the silence.

"Surprise, ya like it?" RJ asked, grinning.

I tried to answer, but I can't. To be honest, I really like RJ's new look: the jacket really brings out the light in RJ's eyes; the outfit, which was tailored to RJ's body frame, fitted him perfectly; and the entire getup really brings out his bright, bubbly personality. But still…

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, RALPH JEROME?!" I screamed, running over and grasping his shoulders tightly. "Where are your clothes? Where did you get all this from?" RJ winced and glitched out of my grasp, falling to the floor. "Explanation!" I yelled at him "I demand one!"

"There's a clothes shop just down one of the games," RJ explained, fiddling with one of the strands on his jacket while standing back up. "I saw this jacket and these other clothes, and I wanted to get them. I don't have any money with me, but the store owner was kind enough to let me exchange my old outfit for these new clothes…"

"WHAT?!" I yelled, unable to believe what RJ had just said. He had just traded his old shirt and overalls for new clothes?! It was unthinkable! I shoved him aside and started for the door.

"Ralph, where ya goin'?" RJ asked, confused.

"TO GET YOUR CLOTHES BACK, YOU IDIOT! ! ! ! !" I growled back at him. _He_ may not have money, but I certainly do, and I will pay whatever that store owner wants to get those overalls and shirt back!

I was about to tear down the door when RJ's voice stops me from behind. "So what? I don't need those clothes anymore! They don't fit, and they don't reflect who I am! What's the point of keepin' them? Shouldn't I get to choose what I wanna wear? Look, Ralph. Ya said it yerself: I am no longer a clone of ya. So why keep wearin' those clothes when I could show that I'm someone else? To define myself? Ya have to let me go, Ralph, I. AM. NO. LONGER. YA! ! ! ! ! ! !"

I stopped in my tracks. Under my bubbling rage, I still have the mind to realize that RJ was indeed right. Ralph Junior had died in the code-tearing process, yet from it, Ralph Jerome rose up from the ashes. RJ had changed, and will continue to do so. He's no longer a clone of me, no longer a shadow, but a new character with a completely different appearance, personality and interests. I had no right to hold him back, to make him like things that he doesn't, to make him more like myself.

"I…" I started, turning away from the door, only to come straight face-to-face with RJ. Embarrassed, I looked away. "I…" I started again, but I was cut short when RJ puts a hand on my shoulder, his hand looking tiny against my huge arm.

"I should…I should have just let you go, RJ. I'm sorry. I mean, I didn't realize that for you to fully become a new character, I should have let you choose everything, that I should have just given you guidance instead of forcing you to go one way or another…"

My brother smiled back, and patted me on the shoulder. "Yer forgiven." He rocked back and forth a bit on his prosthetic idly, as if not really caring our argument just a few minutes earlier. Not gonna lie: if I was the one being yelled at for changing my appearance, I would have blackened his name for at least 2 weeks. With RJ though…he just lets the issue slide like he doesn't care.

So similar, yet at the same time, so different.

"But yeah, ya've got a point. 'Tis better I have those old clothes. Maybe I'll just go and ask the store owner not to sell them 'til I've got enough to pay him back…"

"Nah, just leave it." I said, patting him back. "I really like your getup, especially the jacket: don't think I've seen anything like it before."

" _Really?"_ RJ asked me, glitching with excitement. "Ya really like it?"

"Nope," I shook his shoulder. "I _love_ it." Then I winked at him.

RJ giggled, and suddenly, threw his arms around me. I was startled for a moment, then I hugged him back. It was at that moment, I realized once I let RJ go slightly, he'll deviate from me more and more and more. And for once, I don't think that is a bad thing. At all…

I smiled, and at that moment, fully let RJ go…

* * *

"RALPH, LOOK OUT! ! !"

I snap my eyes open, shocked by the call, and move slightly away to my right, just in time to see RJ somersaulting past me to the ledge below, his jacket billowing around him like a cape. He holds out his hammer and smashes it onto the ledge, breaking his fall. "Ya got everythin' under control?"

"Sorta!" I call back, and turn to the floor above me, smashing the windows.

"I don't know." He mutters, then whistling, he plows his hammer to the wall behind him and just moves it along as he walks, crashing the windows and walls behind him. I can hear a random Nicelander scream something angrily at RJ as he walked by.

Felix dives down to fix RJ's damage when Mary puts a pie against her windowsill. The player notices it, and directs Felix back up to get it, but just before he did…

There is a strong buzzing sound, and a flash of green…and the pie is gone. Felix looks up and down, startled, before finding the pie on a ledge two floors above him.

"YOU SERIOUS, RJ?!" I hear Mary scream from her apartment. "DID YOU JUST TAKE MY PIE AND MOVED IT SOMEWHERE ELSE?!"

"Hey! Ya should be glad that I didn't _eat_ it!" RJ shoots back with glee. Hearing this, I cannot help laughing. Yup, that's typical RJ for you: snarky, yet still very mischievous.

Felix gets to the pie in time, though, and gets a quick speed boost in fixing. He darts by RJ, causing him to be swept off his feet and grip to the ledge for support. The player controls Felix at breakneck speed as he leaps up and down, fixing all the damage. By the time RJ regained his balance, the words 'YOU FIXED IT!' are flashing brightly in the sky above the building, and my brother lets out a rather loud groan.

"WHAT?! YA SERIOUS?! HE'D MANAGED TO FIX EVERYTHIN'?!"

"Yeah, RJ. He's won." I grab his hand and haul him up to the roof, where the Nicelanders are all gathered. Clouds gather above us, then part to reveal a shiny gold medal, which fixed itself onto Felix's neck. He holds one of Mary's pies up high, while another Nicelander pecks a small kiss onto his cheek.

Then they all turn to face us.

"What are they gonna do to us?!" RJ asks me, alarmed.

"Hey, hey! Chillax! Although…" I laugh nervously, as the Nicelanders have reached me and lifted me up. Then they all go to the edge of the roof, and started to hoist me up…

"I'll see you down there!" I call, looking back at him. I only have time to catch RJ's shocked glance before I was thrown off, tumbling down the side of the building and landing face-down on the mud puddle below. Even as I am lying down, I shift slightly away, so as to make space for what will be coming down next…

"Heh, um…Uh…No hard feelin's, right?" I hear RJ stammer from up on the roof. I roll over on my back and see him scooting closer and closer to the edge. "I swear I don't know him, I just thought it would be fun to do what he was doin'. Let's…just forget everythin' and start over, alright?" RJ lets out a nervous giggle as he continues to stumble backward.

There is a brief silence, then I hear Gene shout. "Too bad, _glitch_. FIRE THE HOSE! ! ! ! !"

There is the sound of water, and then a scream. And with that, RJ is blasted off the side of the building, soaking wet, tumbles down, and lands in the puddle next to me, face first. He lets out a loud groan and spits the mud out, his clothes stuck to his body.

"Aw! Come on!" RJ calls, swinging his fists. "What was _that_ for?!"

"Hey, you said you wanted to get off the building in style, right? So they took a hose and blasted you off the building with…" I take in a deep sniff "pool water, right?"

"Whatever…didn't see that comin'…" RJ tries to wring out his shirt, but I pull him aside, where the player couldn't see us.

"Don't worry 'bout that. They'll get cleaned when we start a new level. What we need to do is to go back to our starting places. Come on!" I wave and lead RJ into the forest, around the back of the building, and back to our brick pile.

"Alright. This level: you're going first, RJ." I nudge him towards the screen. RJ is about to fire back at me when the bell sounded for the next level; and almost like magic, our figures slightly blurred to reverse us back to our 'before-game' state. RJ clutches his now-dry clothes in astonishment, and looks at my mud-free overalls.

"Yeah, it happens. Get used to it, bro." I pat RJ on the shoulder, and nudge him forward again.

RJ stumbles a bit, and then picks up his hammer again. He starts to run to the screen, but I stop him.

"You know, wrecking powers or not, you're a real wrecker already." RJ looks at me, startled. I give him a thumbs-up "Knock 'em dead, bro."

RJ smiles, then runs and wraps myself in for a hug. I squeeze him back for a moment. "I will, I definitely will. Yet I still don't know why ya believe in that…"

"You'll understand later. Now go!" I point back at the building, and gives RJ a wink.

He winks back, and glitches away to start the new level.

* * *

 **A/N: So, is this the end?**

 **Not...quite.**

 **I mean, it's RJ's story, right? I think I should have him take the last chapter for himself.**

 **So till then, I'm out!**


	19. Epilogue

**A/N: Guys, this is it. The final chapter. Are you ready?**

 ***Beat***

 **I know you are.**

 ***Slides chapter onto the computer***

* * *

Epilogue

RJ

This is a story about a man, who wanted desperately nothing more than freedom.

Yes, 'freedom'. You've heard right. That's what the man wanted most.

For other characters, they don't consider 'freedom' as a luxury. After all, they've been coded with it since the first day. Their codes were perfectly normal, with nothing to worry about.

They don't know what it's like to be a clone.

While he had been trapped in a sealed-shut grey cube, alone for who knows how long, neglected for like forever, to the point where no one even knew he existed.

Even if he's only just a cluster of worthless pixels, he believed that he was something more than a locked character, that his code, although full of mistakes, held something more than it seemed.

But the days passed, and still he was trapped, trapped in darkness.

The days turned into weeks, and weeks blended into months and years. The man was starting to lose track of his humanity, but he fought it back, praying for the day he'll finally get his freedom.

And at that very moment, the man made a vow, and vowed that if he ever got the chance to get unlocked, to be free, he'll do everything it takes to stay.

No matter whatever it took him.

So that he would never ever have to return.

Never to go back to the darkness where he was originally from.

Many years later, fate gave him a chance, and he was finally free. And as soon as he was plugged in, he put his plan into action.

And started lying.

He saw his original, and told that they were related by family. He then covered it by saying that his parents locked him up. It was an obvious lie, but his original believed it, and took the man under his care.

The game started changing, but the man deceived them, pulling their gazes away from the obvious damage, letting them believe that the game's changes are normal.

The man knew that he was dangerous, that his very existence could transform the game in unpredictable ways. But instead of blurting out the truth for the sake of the game, he kept it all to himself.

He didn't say anything about the increasing destruction on the game.

It was until the other main character decided to look for answers, saw through the man's deceptive words and actions, and found out the real truth about him.

But he didn't reveal it immediately.

The man did not say a word. He didn't dare to risk it. He didn't tell them the terrible danger their game was in.

He didn't say a word about it, until it was too late.

The game crashed in upon itself.

The owner of the arcade deemed the game as 'Out of Order'.

The characters all were facing the likelihood of becoming homeless.

It was at that moment, seeing everyone panicking and fearing that they would get unplugged, that the man realized that his selfishness had gone too far. For even though he was a clone and wasn't allowed to leave his game, he knew it wasn't right to pull anyone down with him.

He blurted the entire truth to them, and as he expected, his original turned upon the man, giving him a very deserving blow to the face. He told the man/clone to leave him and wander, never to be seen again.

And the man did what he was told.

He ran.

He ran until he could run no further.

For as much as he could do, he couldn't leave the game. He'll get found sooner or later.

So he hid himself, hugged his knees to his chest, and cried.

He didn't care, he didn't care. He didn't care if he was found again. He didn't care if his original came back for a second beating, for he knew he totally deserved it.

He should have warned them sooner.

He should have told them he was a threat to the game.

As the man expected, the original indeed found him moments later, and yes, they fought. Hard.

They were so invested in their fight that they didn't realized that game was tearing itself apart further, and the man couldn't do anything to stop it, even if he wished.

The next change in the game caused the man's original to fall, and out of pity or intuition, the man reached out to save him, even though he knew he would get beaten up immediately right after.

His original didn't beat him up.

Instead, he healed the man, and asked him what it was like when he was locked up, before all of this happened.

The man never liked discussing about his past, but since he had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, he might as well tell his original everything. No harm done, right?

Wrong.

His original was absolutely horrified by the man's words, and then quickly told the man he was sorry for his actions. He didn't even stop to process if the man was lying or not.

The man wasn't lying though.

The game shifted again, and seeing this, the man made a heavy decision, much to his original's horror.

The man decided to lock himself up again.

His original tried to talk him out of it, but he finally, reluctantly, agreed. And once he did, the man wasted no time in preparing his locking.

It was a strange thing: the man preparing everything for the one thing he feared most, for the one thing he never hoped to return.

But the man also knew that he had no right to crash someone's game, nor to stay where he never belonged. He was a selfish clone, a being never meant to be forgiven, to be accepted.

It would be best if he closed himself up forever.

The man's original did everything he could to stop the man, but the man wouldn't listen: he felt so humiliated by his lies and actions that he couldn't bear himself to set foot in this game.

He kept a positive smile, though, not to let his original worry.

The man, his original, and the other main character went down for the locking process, but his original couldn't bring himself to shut the lid down, to lock the man up.

For some reason.

The man volunteered to shut himself in, and with that, he closed the lid of the chest, cutting off his code from the mains. He felt no fear, for he was desperate to leave his game.

He smiled again, trying not to let his original or the other character worry. Then he felt himself leave the world where he loved, but at the same time, really wanted to depart.

His original screamed his name.

The man didn't fight back, but instead let his body shatter and break down, dumping him back into the all-too-familiar grey cube where he lived before he was unlocked.

 _He was home, back where he belonged._

However, very soon, the man was unlocked again, for some reason. But when he reappeared, he was no longer the same character he was before, both on the inside and out.

He was told that he'd been suffering from severe code loss, and that a potentially fatal disease caused his original to decide to chop half of the man's leg off.

At first he was angry that his original had freed him, since he knew he was a danger to the game. But the original explained that the man had been freed from the main code, that although he was still a glitch, the glitches would no longer affect the game.

The original then gave the man a choice, telling that he could stay and become his brother for real, and give him a role in his game.

Seeing his original begging for the man to join him, the man agreed.

He got a new name, new abilities, and within a few months he was able to work in his game as a new character, helping his original in gameplay.

Everyone welcomed him, both the gamers and the original characters. No one asked about his appearance, and not everyone minded his past status as a clone. Sure, he got some glances and glares every now and then, but hey! It was okay. He could deal with it.

Every night, after the arcade closed, his original and his friends would tug the man out of his game and into others, sending him onto one adventure after another; while there are also times that they pulled the man up to the penthouse on the top of the building, celebrating. Sometimes he would be busting dance moves with the characters of his game; sometimes he would be joking off with some other characters at Tapper's with a soda; and yet sometimes he would be cheering from the stands next to the Sugar Rush racetrack for the pint-sized president, if not joining in the racing fun himself.

The days flew by, and the man loved every second of it.

But…something seems off.

Something bugged him, refused to leave him, which cannot be replaced with all the happiness that the man experienced.

It came to the point where the man sometimes found himself excusing invites from other characters and heading up to the rooftop after the working hours. There he sat alone, facing towards the screen, hood pulled up his head and legs tucked into his chest, staring blankly at the outside world beyond, his body pulsing with the occasional glitches.

It was at those very moments, that he asked himself these questions.

 _Why am I here?_

 _Why am I_ _still_ _here?_

Sure, it was the man's decision to accept his place in the game, to become his original's brother. He himself had played a role in it.

But what he _didn't_ understand was this: he was already unlocked when he'd been given the choice to stay or not.

He was already freed.

He had told his original not to free him again before he was locked up, but his original didn't listen.

Didn't his original know that the man was never meant to be unlocked?

Didn't his original know that he the man didn't deserve to be unlocked?

As the man tucked his legs further in, his arm briefly swiped across the cold, hard metal of his prosthetic: a physical disability formed from his second unlocking. The original had been warned of the risks of freeing a clone, but still he decided to do it. Sure, it could be out of selfishness, but if that was the case, then his original wouldn't try and save him after his unlocking.

Beings with selfish desires wouldn't do that, right?

So…what was it?

The man desperately wanted to know, but no one would tell him. And seeing his original smiling every time the man walked by him, the man couldn't have the courage to muster the words out. The man hid his emotions well, laughing away all the negative feelings, and wore an optimistic grin most of the time; but deep down underneath, it was totally different.

He wanted answers, but he can't get them. He just couldn't pull himself to ask.

Tonight, the man decided that he would go down to the Code Room by himself, and try to look for answers.

It was time.

He needed to know.

To find the exact reason why his original would convince him to stay, and be a part of his family.

The man took the key locking the door to the Code Room, as well as the code that had to be inputted before entry. He hadn't told his original about this, nor to his friends. But the man thought it would be best not to tell them about his trip.

They would stop him for sure.

The man unlocked both doors with ease, and the second door swung open to reveal a room, seemed to be filled with infinite darkness, shy for a sparkling cluster of color in the distance.

The man nodded. He found his target.

The code boxes.

Running quickly, the man pushed off the ledge, and swam into the colorful code boxes glowing in the distance.

One of which held his name.

His new name, not the one he was originally programmed with, but a slightly different one.

As the man closed in his distance, memories of his last time in the Code Room surfaced yet again in his mind.

He remembered the time where he was forced to lock himself back up, for the good of the game.

His original tried to stop him, for some reason.

The man pushed the thought away as he reached the glowing mass of code boxes, and found the one with his name. He swam over to it, and tapped it open.

The box popped open to reveal hundreds of tiny icons, all shimmering with electricity. Sometimes some of the icons would shutter and flicker, causing the man's body to occasionally glitch up, but the man didn't mind it.

After all, it was all part of life, right?

The man moved his hand through the icons, fingering each and every one of them, as if the answer could be found within them. But the icons did nothing more than store basic information and glow; no relevant information regarding the man's question jumped out at him.

The man sighed and tapped the code box back shut. Gently, he ran a finger across his name, and threw his arms over the box, collapsing on it. He could feel his code glitching as he sighed again.

He couldn't find the answer.

' _What would it be?'_ The man wondered, pushing more of his weight onto the box he was on. _'It couldn't be that hard to find. What was it?'_

As he was lying there, more of his memories resurfaced. Yet these memories were different.

He remembered how his original looked when he told him about his past.

He remembered the expression that his original held when the man made his choice to lock himself back up.

He remembered how his original tried to stop him.

He remembered the name his original called him, even before he realized he was a clone.

He called him _brother_.

He had accepted him as family already.

But…why would he do that?

It was at that moment, that an unexpected thought floated out of his mind and presented itself to him, and the man unexpectedly smiled, finding his answer.

Maybe…it was all out of love. Simply love.

Not…a romantic love, but a brotherly love.

Yes, love.

Love was what made his original forgave the man for his lies and actions.

Love was what convinced his original to make the decision to try and free his clone.

Love was what drove his original and his partner to go down to the code room for their rescue mission.

Love was what made his original to become so desperate when he found his clone to be in a critical condition.

Love was what finally caused the man to transform and become a completely new character, with a new name and personality, as a totally separate being.

Love was what bounded the man to his game. Not by his will, but from his original and the characters in the game, accepting him into their family, encouraging him, giving him a second chance.

Ready to start anew.

To begin again…

Maybe I just don't fully understand it yet.

 **The End**

* * *

 **A/N: Guys! If you're reading this, let me just say two very simple words to sum up how I feel.**

 **Thank you.**

 **This is actually my first complete multi-chapter fanfiction I've done, and I'm really happy that I'm able to tie it off the way I imagined. I actually stopped writing this halfway through because of other reasons, but I'm really happy that I'm able to really complete this.**

 **Don't know if anyone still reads this story, but I want to thank everyone who stuck with this story to the very end, even if you're just reading from the last chapter up.**

 **I knew there are some readers here who gave me comments and tips to help make Unlocked smoother than I imagined, and I wanted to give an extra thanks to them. Without you guys reading and commenting, I don't think I'll be able to write the words 'The End' on here at all.**

 **So there. RJ's story has finished, but still more adventures await for him, and I will still write them all out. I hope you guys will still continue to support me in my other stories while I'm planning more stories involving RJ.**

 **So till my next story, IceWrecker out! :D**


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